7 of 7 in Chapter LVII. THE CONVALESCENT421 of 593 in work
Teacher of Eternal Return
Friedrich Nietzsche
Thus Spake Zarathustra

The author introduces the doctrine of the Eternal Return, framing it as Zarathustra's ultimate fate and a cyclical reality where all things, great and small, recur infinitely.

...songs, then want they other songs than the convalescent.” —“O ye wags and barrel-organs, do be silent!” answered Zarathustra, and smiled at his animals. “How well ye know what consolation I devised for myself in seven days! That I have to sing once more—THAT consolation did I devise for myself, and THIS convalescence: would ye also make another lyre-lay thereof?” —“Do not talk further,” answered his animals once more; “rather, thou convalescent, prepare for thyself first a lyre, a new lyre!
For behold, O Zarathustra! For thy new lays there are needed new lyres. Sing and bubble over, O Zarathustra, heal thy soul with new lays: that thou mayest bear thy great fate, which hath not yet been any one’s fate! For thine animals know it well, O Zarathustra, who thou art and must become: behold, THOU ART THE TEACHER OF THE ETERNAL RETURN,—that is now THY fate! That thou must be the first to teach this teaching—how could this great fate not be thy greatest danger and infirmity! Behold, we know what thou teachest: that all things eternally return, and ourselves with them, and that we have already existed times without number, and all things…
And if thou wouldst now die, O Zarathustra, behold, we know also how thou wouldst then speak to thyself:—but thine animals beseech thee not to die yet! Thou wouldst speak, and without trembling, buoyant rather with bliss, for a great weight and worry would be taken from thee, thou patientest one!— ‘Now do I die and disappear,’ wouldst thou say, ‘and in a moment I am nothing. Souls are as mortal as bodies. But the plexus of causes returneth in which I am intertwined,—it will again create me!...
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1 of 7 in Chapter LVIII. THE GREAT LONGING422 of 593 in work
Now entering Chapter LVIII. THE GREAT LONGING
Soul's Naked Calm
Friedrich Nietzsche
Thus Spake Zarathustra

A poetic vision of the soul's liberation from shame, sin, and the past, enabling it to stand naked before the sun and affirm life with a 'holy Yea.'

...wn-going.’”— When the animals had spoken these words they were silent and waited, so that Zarathustra might say something to them: but Zarathustra did not hear that they were silent. On the contrary, he lay quietly with closed eyes like a person sleeping, although he did not sleep; for he communed just then with his soul. The serpent, however, and the eagle, when they found him silent in such wise, respected the great stillness around him, and prudently retired. LVIII. THE GREAT LONGING.
O my soul, I have taught thee to say “to-day” as “once on a time” and “formerly,” and to dance thy measure over every Here and There and Yonder. O my soul, I delivered thee from all by-places, I brushed down from thee dust and spiders and twilight. O my soul, I washed the petty shame and the by-place virtue from thee, and persuaded thee to stand naked before the eyes of the sun. With the storm that is called “spirit” did I blow over thy surging sea; all clouds did I blow away from it; I strangled even the strangler called “sin.” O my soul, I gave thee the right to say Nay like the storm, and to say Yea as the open heaven saith Yea: calm as…
O my soul, I restored to thee liberty over the created and the uncreated; and who knoweth, as thou knowest, the voluptuousness of the future? O my soul, I taught thee the contempt which doth not come like worm-eating, the great, the loving contempt, which loveth most where it contemneth most. O my soul, I taught thee so to persuade that thou persuadest even the grounds themselves to thee: like the sun, which persuadeth even the sea to its height. O my soul, I have taken from thee all obeyin...
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Soul's Loving Contempt
Friedrich Nietzsche
Thus Spake Zarathustra

The author celebrates the soul's liberation and its capacity for 'loving contempt,' which rejects the mediocre out of a greater love for the future. He describes a state of spiritual sovereignty that can say 'Yea' and 'Nay' with equal power.

...o-day” as “once on a time” and “formerly,” and to dance thy measure over every Here and There and Yonder. O my soul, I delivered thee from all by-places, I brushed down from thee dust and spiders and twilight. O my soul, I washed the petty shame and the by-place virtue from thee, and persuaded thee to stand naked before the eyes of the sun. With the storm that is called “spirit” did I blow over thy surging sea; all clouds did I blow away from it; I strangled even the strangler called “sin.”
O my soul, I gave thee the right to say Nay like the storm, and to say Yea as the open heaven saith Yea: calm as the light remainest thou, and now walkest through denying storms. O my soul, I restored to thee liberty over the created and the uncreated; and who knoweth, as thou knowest, the voluptuousness of the future? O my soul, I taught thee the contempt which doth not come like worm-eating, the great, the loving contempt, which loveth most where it contemneth most.
O my soul, I taught thee so to persuade that thou persuadest even the grounds themselves to thee: like the sun, which persuadeth even the sea to its height. O my soul, I have taken from thee all obeying and knee-bending and homage-paying; I have myself given thee the names, “Change of need” and “Fate.” O my soul, I have given thee new names and gay-coloured playthings, I have called thee “Fate” and “the Circuit of circuits” and “the Navel-string of time” and “the Azure bell.” O my soul, to...
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3 of 7 in Chapter LVIII. THE GREAT LONGING424 of 593 in work
Soul's Future Voluptuousness
Friedrich Nietzsche
Thus Spake Zarathustra

A confession of the soul's liberation, where the author describes teaching his soul a 'loving contempt' and the power to persuade reality itself toward its own height.

...dust and spiders and twilight. O my soul, I washed the petty shame and the by-place virtue from thee, and persuaded thee to stand naked before the eyes of the sun. With the storm that is called “spirit” did I blow over thy surging sea; all clouds did I blow away from it; I strangled even the strangler called “sin.” O my soul, I gave thee the right to say Nay like the storm, and to say Yea as the open heaven saith Yea: calm as the light remainest thou, and now walkest through denying storms.
O my soul, I restored to thee liberty over the created and the uncreated; and who knoweth, as thou knowest, the voluptuousness of the future? O my soul, I taught thee the contempt which doth not come like worm-eating, the great, the loving contempt, which loveth most where it contemneth most. O my soul, I taught thee so to persuade that thou persuadest even the grounds themselves to thee: like the sun, which persuadeth even the sea to its height.
O my soul, I have taken from thee all obeying and knee-bending and homage-paying; I have myself given thee the names, “Change of need” and “Fate.” O my soul, I have given thee new names and gay-coloured playthings, I have called thee “Fate” and “the Circuit of circuits” and “the Navel-string of time” and “the Azure bell.” O my soul, to thy domain gave I all wisdom to drink, all new wines, and also all immemorially old strong wines of wisdom. O my soul, every sun shed I upon thee, and every...
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4 of 7 in Chapter LVIII. THE GREAT LONGING425 of 593 in work
Soul as Vine
Friedrich Nietzsche
Thus Spake Zarathustra

A poetic confession where the author describes nurturing his own soul with wisdom and cosmic metaphors until it grows into a flourishing, vital entity.

...west, the voluptuousness of the future? O my soul, I taught thee the contempt which doth not come like worm-eating, the great, the loving contempt, which loveth most where it contemneth most. O my soul, I taught thee so to persuade that thou persuadest even the grounds themselves to thee: like the sun, which persuadeth even the sea to its height. O my soul, I have taken from thee all obeying and knee-bending and homage-paying; I have myself given thee the names, “Change of need” and “Fate.”
O my soul, I have given thee new names and gay-coloured playthings, I have called thee “Fate” and “the Circuit of circuits” and “the Navel-string of time” and “the Azure bell.” O my soul, to thy domain gave I all wisdom to drink, all new wines, and also all immemorially old strong wines of wisdom. O my soul, every sun shed I upon thee, and every night and every silence and every longing:—then grewest thou up for me as a vine.
O my soul, exuberant and heavy dost thou now stand forth, a vine with swelling udders and full clusters of brown golden grapes:— —Filled and weighted by thy happiness, waiting from superabundance, and yet ashamed of thy waiting. O my soul, there is nowhere a soul which could be more loving and more comprehensive and more extensive! Where could future and past be closer together than with thee? O my soul, I have given thee everything, and all my hands have become empty by thee:—and now! Now...
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