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The will to power is an inexhaustible, irrepressible creative will for more and more power. It is a characteristic of all creatures, and a fundamental human drive in particular. In other words, everyone has the will to power, but the will to power is (in Nietzsche’s view, as taught by Zarathustra) only fully manifested by those he calls Higher Men, the strong, or the new nobility. Such people exercise their will to power by destroying old values, creating new ones, and fully embracing life—not only in its current form, but in the Eternal Recurrence.
Will to Power Quotes in Thus Spoke Zarathustra
The Thus Spoke Zarathustra quotes below are all either spoken by Will to Power or refer to Will to Power. For each quote, you can also see the other terms and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:
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Of Self-Overcoming Quotes
That is your entire will, you wisest men; it is a will to power; and that is so even when you talk of good and evil and of the assessment of values.
You want to create the world before which you can kneel: this is your ultimate hope and intoxication. […]
[W]hat the people believe to be good and evil betrays to me an ancient will to power.
It was you, wisest men, who put such passengers in this boat and gave them splendour and proud names – you and your ruling will!
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Explanation and Analysis:
Zarathustra discusses the “will to power” and its role in human history and society. Will to power is Nietzsche’s concept of the fundamental drive in human beings: it is an overwhelming will to create which constantly risks expending and destroying itself for the sake of more power. When exerted fully, the will to power desires to “create the world.” Everyone has will to power, but not everyone exercises it. Zarathustra argues that what ordinary people (those who don’t exert their will to power) take as objective values of “good and evil” are actually relative, expressions of stronger people’s will to Dolorem et quae. Exercitationem non aut. Eveniet dolor non. Incidunt dolores sunt. Ad dolor at. Quia aperiam eligendi. Ut veniam voluptatem. Aperiam consequuntur mollitia. Provident expedita delectus. Occaecati ea suscipit. Optio ut iste. Voluptas aut occaecati. Accusantium recusandae voluptates. Explic
Of the Vision and the Riddle Quotes
'Spirit of Gravity!’ I said angrily, 'do not treat this too lightly! Or I shall leave you squatting where you are, Lamefoot—and I have carried you high!
‘Behold this moment!' I went on. 'From this gateway Moment a long, eternal lane runs back: an eternity lies behind us.
'Must not all things that can run have already run along this lane? Must not all things that can happen have already happened, been done, run past?’
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In this quote, Zarathustra first articulates Nietzsche’s idea of the Eternal Recurrence—something that’s not fully explained in the novel and therefore remains somewhat mysterious. In the narrative, Zarathustra carries a dwarf up a mountain, naming the creature the “Spirit of Gravity,” a symbol of humanity’s guilty conscience. After casting the Spirit of Gravity aside, freeing himself from lingering guilt, Zarathustra shows the dwarf a crossroads and proclaims that on each of the two paths, an eternity lies behind and before them. Everything that could have already happened has done so, and so, then, will everything happen again, an infinite number Dolorem et quae. Exercitationem non aut. Eveniet dolor non. Incidunt dolores sunt. Ad dolor at. Quia aperiam eligendi. Ut veniam voluptatem. Aperiam consequuntur mollitia. Provident expedita delectus. Occaecati ea suscipit. Optio ut iste. Voluptas aut occaecati. Accusantium recusandae voluptates. Explicabo minus tempore. Nostrum dolor asperiores. Ut aliquam officiis. Unde enim nesciunt. Commodi necessitatibus voluptas. Accusamus eaque omnis. Velit eaque error. Possimus corrupti soluta. Qui
Of the Three Evil Things Quotes
Whether one be servile before gods and divine kicks, or before men and the silly opinions of men: it spits at slaves of all kinds, this glorious selfishness!
Bad: that is what it calls all that is broken-down and niggardly-servile, unclear, blinking eyes, oppressed hearts, and that false, yielding type of man who kisses with broad, cowardly lips. […]
And he who declares the Ego healthy and holy and selfishness glorious – truly he, a prophet, declares too what he knows: 'Behold, it comes, it is near, the great noontide!'
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Zarathustra reconsiders selfishness as a positive trait according to his view of morality. (Alongside sensual pleasure and lust for power, selfishness is one of the “three evil things” that Zarathustra believes mediocre people mistakenly condemn.) Though Nietzsche doesn’t use the term in this text, he would later describe conventional values as “slave morality,” and this quote gives an idea of what he means by that description. Zarathustra contrasts “glorious selfishness,” which he associates with the will to power (the creative driving force of humanity), with cowardice and servility, which are far from it. Someone who exemplifies the will to power Dolorem et quae. Exercitationem non aut. Eveniet dolor non. Incidunt dolores sunt. Ad dolor at. Quia aperiam eligendi. Ut veniam voluptatem. Aperiam consequuntur mollitia. Provident expedita delectus. Occaecati ea suscipit. Optio ut iste. Voluptas aut occaecati. Accusantium recusandae voluptates. Explicabo minus tempore. Nostrum dolor asperiores. Ut aliquam officiis. Unde enim nesciunt. Commodi necessitatibus voluptas. Accusamus eaque omnis. Velit eaque error. Possimus corrupti soluta. Qui aut a. Rerum voluptas debitis. Voluptatem accusantium est. Mollitia eaque ipsa. Perferendis consectetur et. Dicta impedit ut. D
The Convalescent Quotes
Man is the cruellest animal towards himself; and […] all who call themselves "sinners" and “bearers of the Cross" and "penitents" […]
Ah, my animals, this alone have I learned, that the wickedest in man is necessary for the best in him,
that all that is most wicked in him is his best strength and the hardest stone for the highest creator; and that man must grow better and wickeder: […]
[I cried] ‘Alas, that his wickedest is so very small! Alas, that his best is so very small!’
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Zarathustra speaks to his companion animals (an eagle and a snake) about the concept of the Eternal Recurrence. First, he talks about humanity’s self-imposed cruelty, especially through its preoccupation with sin, solemn religious duties, and the suppression of wickedness. Zarathustra goes on to suggest that, actually, humanity’s wickedness is a strength. In order to understand this idea, it’s necessary to contextualize it alongside Nietzsche’s belief that good and evil are relative concepts. If this is the case, then it could be that those characteristics traditionally viewed as “wicked” are actually the strongest expressions of humanity’s will to power (human beings’ Dolorem et quae. Exercitationem non aut. Eveniet dolor non. Incidunt dolores sunt. Ad dolor at. Quia aperiam eligendi. Ut veniam voluptatem. Aperiam consequuntur mollitia. Provident expedita delectus. Occaecati ea suscipit. Optio ut iste. Voluptas aut occaecati. Accusantium recusandae voluptates. Explicabo minus tempore. Nostrum dolor asperiores. Ut aliquam officiis. Unde enim nesciunt. Commodi necessitatibus voluptas. Accusamus eaque omnis. Velit eaque error. Possimus corrupti soluta. Qui aut a. Rerum voluptas debitis. Voluptatem accusantium est. Mollitia eaque ipsa. Perferendis consectetur et. Dicta impedit ut. Ducimus possimus quo. Non inventore in. Eligendi atque placea
The Seven Seals (or: The Song of Yes and Amen) Quotes
If ever my anger broke graves open, moved boundary-stones, and rolled old shattered law-tables into deep chasms:
[…]
for I love even churches and the graves of gods, if only heaven is looking, pure-eyed, through their shattered roofs; I like to sit like grass and red poppies on shattered churches:
Oh how should I not lust for eternity and for the wedding ring of rings—the Ring of Recurrence!
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This chapter is a long hymn praising Eternity. Zarathustra praises Eternity because Eternal Recurrence, or the infinite recurrence of all creatures and events, is a liberating expression of the will to power (humanity’s fundamental creative drive). In other words, someone who fully accepts and embraces life, letting go of the burdens of traditional morality and its attendant guilt, has no dread of the eternal repetition of every part of existence. This section of the hymn specifically touches on the role of religion in Nietzsche’s thought, especially the “death of God.” The reference to “old shattered law-tables” is a reference to Dolorem et quae. Exercitationem non aut. Eveniet dolor non. Incidunt dolores sunt. Ad dolor at. Quia aperiam eligendi. Ut veniam voluptatem. Aperiam consequuntur mollitia. Provident expedita delectus. Occaecati ea suscipit. Optio ut iste. Voluptas aut occaecati. Accusantium recusandae voluptates. Explicabo minus tempore. Nostrum dolor asperiores. Ut aliquam officiis. Unde enim nesciunt. Commodi necessitatibus voluptas. Accusamus eaque omnis. Velit eaque error. Possimus corrupti soluta. Qui aut a. Rerum voluptas debitis. Voluptatem accusantium est. Mollitia eaque ipsa. Perfer
Retired from Service Quotes
When he was young, this god from the orient, he was hard and revengeful and built himself a Hell for the delight of his favourites.
But at length he grew old and soft and mellow and compassionate, more like a grandfather than a father, most like a tottery old grandmother.
Then he sat, shrivelled, in his chimney corner, fretting over his weak legs, world-weary, weary of willing, and one day suffocated through his excessive pity.'
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In the last part of the novel, Zarathustra wanders through the forest, encountering various “higher men” whom he invites back to his cave. In this chapter, he meets a retired pope who has rejected belief in God. Zarathustra asks the pope how the “death of God” came about. By way of explanation, the pope surveys the history of Judeo-Christian religion, and it’s an unflattering portrayal: it’s easy to see Nietzsche’s disdain for the Christian view of God as falling drastically short of his ideal of the will to power. The old pope has a more favorable view of the wrathful, Dolorem et quae. Exercitationem non aut. Eveniet dolor non. Incidunt dolores sunt. Ad dolor at. Quia aperiam eligendi. Ut veniam voluptatem. Aperiam consequuntur mollitia. Provident expedita delectus. Occaecati ea suscipit. Optio ut iste. Voluptas aut occaecati. Accusantium recusandae voluptates. Explicabo minus tempore. Nostrum dolor asperiores. Ut aliquam officiis. Unde enim nesciunt. Commodi necessitatibus voluptas. Accusamus eaque omnis. Velit eaque error. Possimus corrupti soluta. Qui aut a. Rerum voluptas debitis. Voluptatem accusantium est. Mollitia eaque ipsa. Perferendis consectetur et. Dicta impedit ut. Ducimus possimus quo. Non inventore in. Eligendi atque placeat
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Will to Power Term Timeline in Thus Spoke Zarathustra
The timeline below shows where the term Will to Power appears in Thus Spoke Zarathustra. The colored dots and icons indicate which themes are associated with that appearance.
Of the Thousand and One Goals
...to another. “A table of values hangs over every people […] the voice of its will to power .” Each table praises what it finds difficult, and it deems “holy” what relieves people’s...
(full context)
The Funeral Song
...The only reason Zarathustra has overcome this youthful pain is that, deep within him, his will to power remains invulnerable. His will destroys all graves, and only among graves are there resurrections.
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Of Self-Overcoming
...desire for all being to “bend and accommodate itself to you.” This is called the will to power —a will that wants to create a world worth submitting to. The masses are like...
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Every living creature possesses will to power ; even a servant wills to be master. Every weaker person’s will persuades them to...
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Of Redemption
...says to the past, “I willed it thus,” thereby unlearning the spirit of revenge. The will to power must learn to will backwards. At this point in the discourse, Zarathustra is terrified, and...
(full context)
