Thus Spoke Zarathustra · Chapter
IX explained
Zarathustra warns the higher men to be distrustful of the populace and the learned, advising them to keep their reasons secret because the marketplace is swayed by gestures, not logic.
What happens
Zarathustra warns the higher men to be distrustful of the populace and the learned, advising them to keep their reasons secret because the marketplace is swayed by gestures, not logic. He cautions that those who cannot lie do not know truth, and that cold, unproductive spirits are not to be trusted.
Themes in this chapter
Critique of Herd Morality
Zarathustra warns against the populace and the marketplace, where truth is won by gestures and strong errors, not reasons.
Will to Power and Creation
The learned are described as unproductive and cold, contrasting with the creative, enheartened higher men.
Characters to notice
- Zarathustra
Speaker of the chapter, addressing the higher men with warnings about distrust, the populace, and the learned.
- The Higher Men
Addressed directly by Zarathustra as 'ye higher men, ye enheartened ones! Ye openhearted ones!'
Key passages
“And when truth hath once triumphed there, then ask yourselves with good distrust: 'What strong error hath fought for it?'”
When truth wins in the marketplace, suspect that a powerful falsehood was actually the driving force behind its victory.
Zarathustra advises the higher men to question the nature of truth's triumph in a public setting.
“He who cannot lie, doth not know what truth is.”
Someone who is incapable of lying has no real understanding of truth.
Zarathustra asserts that the ability to deceive is necessary for a genuine grasp of truth.