Thus Spoke Zarathustra · Chapter
VII: Reading and Writing explained
Zarathustra extols the virtues of writing with blood and spirit, condemns the rise of mass readership that degrades thought, and celebrates the courage, laughter, and lightness of the exalted individual who overcomes the spirit of gravity.
What happens
Zarathustra extols the virtues of writing with blood and spirit, condemns the rise of mass readership that degrades thought, and celebrates the courage, laughter, and lightness of the exalted individual who overcomes the spirit of gravity.
Themes in this chapter
The Übermensch and Self-Overcoming
Zarathustra's call to write with blood, climb peaks, and laugh at tragedy embodies the self-overcoming of the Übermensch.
Death of God and Revaluation of Values
The shift from spirit as God to spirit as populace signals the death of God and the need for a revaluation of values.
Critique of Herd Morality
Zarathustra condemns the 'reading idlers' and the democratization of reading as ruining thinking, a critique of herd mentality.
Characters to notice
- Zarathustra
Delivers a discourse on writing with blood, the degradation of reading, and the necessity of laughter and courage to overcome gravity.
- The Superman
Implied as the ideal who writes with blood, climbs peaks, and dances beyond the spirit of gravity.
- Life
Referenced as something loved not because we are wont to live, but because we are wont to love, and as a woman who loves a warrior.
- The Higher Men
Addressed as those who look aloft for exaltation, contrasted with Zarathustra who looks downward from his height.
Key passages
“Of all that is written, I love only what a person hath written with his blood. Write with blood, and thou wilt find that blood is spirit.”
The only writing worth loving is that which comes from deep personal conviction and sacrifice; such writing reveals true spirit.
Zarathustra emphasizes authentic, passionate expression over superficial or detached writing.
“He who climbeth on the highest mountains, laugheth at all tragic plays and tragic realities.”
One who reaches the greatest heights of self-overcoming can laugh at both theatrical tragedies and real-life suffering.
This reflects the Übermensch's ability to transcend suffering through laughter and perspective.
“Not by wrath, but by laughter, do we slay. Come, let us slay the spirit of gravity!”
We overcome the oppressive seriousness of life not through anger but through joyous laughter; let us destroy the force that weighs us down.
Zarathustra champions laughter as a weapon against the 'spirit of gravity,' a symbol of dogmatic heaviness.