# LXIV: The Leech explained — Thus Spoke Zarathustra

> Chapter companion for Thus Spoke Zarathustra by Friedrich Nietzsche.

## What happens

Zarathustra, lost in thought, accidentally treads upon a man lying in a swamp. The man, initially enraged, reveals himself as the spiritually conscientious one who has devoted his life to studying the brain of the leech. Recognizing Zarathustra, he praises him as a 'great conscience-leech.' Zarathustra invites him to his cave for healing and further conversation, but is called away by a cry of distress.

## Themes in this chapter

### Critique of Herd Morality

The conscientious one's rejection of 'semi-spiritual' and 'hazy' knowledge reflects a disdain for the herd's superficial intellectualism.

### Will to Power and Creation

The conscientious one's intense, self-sacrificing pursuit of knowledge ('with mine own blood have I increased mine own knowledge') exemplifies the will to power through intellectual creation.

## Character check-ins

### Zarathustra

Accidentally treads upon the conscientious man, then sympathetically invites him to his cave.

### The Conscientious in Spirit

The trodden one who dedicates himself to rigorous study of the leech's brain, embodying intellectual honesty and severity.

## Key lines

> Better know nothing than half-know many things! Better be a fool on one's own account, than a sage on other people's approbation!

It is preferable to be completely ignorant than to have superficial knowledge; better to be an independent fool than a wise person who relies on others' approval.

_The conscientious one articulates his rigorous intellectual standard, valuing depth over breadth and autonomy over conformity._

> Spirit is life which itself cutteth into life

The intellect is a form of life that actively dissects and engages with existence itself.

_Zarathustra's earlier teaching, which inspired the conscientious one's approach to knowledge as a painful but necessary self-examination._

## Links

- HTML: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/thus_spoke_zarathustra_se/chapters/part-iv-lxiv-the-leech
- Book: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/thus_spoke_zarathustra_se
- All chapters: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/thus_spoke_zarathustra_se/chapters