Friedrich Nietzsche's most accessible and influential philosophical work, misquoted, misrepresented, brilliantly original and enormously influentialNietzsche was one of the most revolutionary and subversive thinkers in Western philosophy, and Thus Spoke Zarathustra remains his most famous and influential work. It describes how the ancient Persian prophet Zarathustra descends from his solitude in the mountains to tell the world that God is dead and that the Superman, the human embodiment of divinity, is his successor. Nietzsche's utterance 'God is dead', his insistence that the meaning of life is to be found in purely human terms, and his doctrine of the Superman and the will to power were all later seized upon and unrecognisably twisted by, among others, Nazi intellectuals. With blazing intensity and poetic brilliance, Nietzsche argues that the meaning of existence is not to be found in religious pieties or meek submission to authority, but in an all-powerful life force: passionate, chaotic and free. For more than seventy years, Penguin has been the leading publisher of classic literature in the English-speaking world. With more than 1,700 titles, Penguin Classics represents a global bookshelf of the best works throughout history and across genres and disciplines. Readers trust the series to provide authoritative texts enhanced by introductions and notes by distinguished scholars and contemporary authors, as well as up-to-date translations by award-winning translators.

Thus Spoke Zarathustra IntroductionPart OneZarathustra's PrologueZarathustra's Discourses:Of the Three MetamorphosesOf the Chairs of VirtueOf the AfterworldsmenOf the Despisers of the BodyOf Joys and PassionsOf the Pale CriminalOf Reading and WritingOf the Tree on the MountainsideOf the Preachers of DeathOf War and WarriorsOf the New IdolOf the Flies of the Market-PlaceOf ChastityOf the FriendOf the Thousand and One GoalsOf Love of One's NeighbourOf the Way of the CreatorOf Old and Young WomenOf the Adder's BiteOf Marriage and ChildrenOf Voluntary DeathOf the Bestowing VirtuePart TwoThe Child with the MirrorOn the Blissful IslandsOf the CompassionateOf the PriestsOf the VirtuousOf the RabbleOf the TarantulasOf the Famous PhilsophersThe Night SongThe Dance SongThe Funeral SongOf Self-OvercomingOf the Sublime MenOf the Land of CultureOf Immaculate PerceptionOf ScholarsOf PoetsOf Great EventsThe ProphetOf RedemptionOf Manly PrudenceThe Stillest HourPart ThreeThe WandererOf the Vision and the RiddleOf Involuntary BlissBefore SunriseOf the Virtue That Makes SmallOn the Mount of OlivesOf Passing ByOf the ApostatesThe Home-ComingOf the Three Evil ThingsOf the Spirit of GravityOf Old and New Law-TablesThe ConvalescentOf the Great LongingThe Second Dance SongThe Seven Seals (or: The Song of Yes and Amen)Part FourThe Honey OfferingThe Cry of DistressConversation with the KingsThe LeechThe SorcererRetired from ServiceThe Ugliest ManThe Voluntary BeggarThe ShadowAt NoontideThe GreetingThe Last SupperOf the Higher ManThe Song of MelancholyOf ScienceAmong the Daughters of the DesertThe AwakeningThe Ass FestivalThe Intoxicated SongThe SignNotes