Why you should read Nietzsche's works?

Friedrich Nietzsche was a German philosopher. A great composer, poet, writer and a great critic. Influenced so many philosopher who came after him. The philosopher who said "GOD is dead" and was then named Madman.

So, what is there to learn from the works of a man who was known as "Madman". It turns out that there is alot. In this article I will share with you an excerpt from his book "Thus spoke Zarathustra" that really got me into reading his works and reading philosophy in general.

His life in Briefest way possible:
He went from brilliant classical Philology to a "not so much attention worthy" philosopher living in a small house all by himself. His books were largely unpunlished. When his work finally started to gain some attention, his health began to fall drastically. Nietzsche's sister started taking care of him and it has been said that she manipulated his writings so as to promote her own ideas. His illness finally took over him at the age of 44 years.

The Three Metamorphoses:
So, Nietzsche says that there are three metamorphoses of the spirit.
He says that the spirit first becomes a camel then it becomes a lion and then finally it becomes a child.
Makes no sense right? Why anyone in their right mind would think the final transformation, the highest goal for a spirit is to become a child?

Well Nietzsche explains thus.
The spirit in us, he says, is the load-bearer. It bears the load of all our self-pity, self-harm, and all the hate that we carry for others and ourselves too. Like a camel, it will take all the load its lordship throws on it. And then it wanders off into the wilderness as commanded. It will ask no question and will carry everything till its legs stop moving. The spirit is just a slave working for and bearing loads in this form.

Then Nietzsche says that there will be a time when the spirit transforms and becomes a lion. A time when the spirit will attain freedom. It will not carry the load of anyone. It will learn to be its own lord. But at this point, there still is one thing lacking. The spirit, having the courage of lion, will remain free but it still can't create new values. Catching prey when hungry and caring for its pack is what lion will do. That is, the spirit is still bound by the inherent societal conditions.

So, then you might ask what a child can do that a lion cannot? Why the final transformation of spirit to become a child?

As Nietzsche puts it "Innocence is the child, and forgetfulness, and a new beginning, a game, a self-rolling wheel, a first movement, a holy Yea". You see, a child is not bounded by any conditions. A child might cry until provided with what it desires. Might burn hand by putting it in boiling water just out of curiosity. The resulting pain will make him understand to not do it ever again. The point being, he has all the freedom and is not scared for trying out and discovering the world around. There are no constraints. This freedom and the will to create new "values" is the final stage of the spirit according to Nietzsche.

"Thus Spoke Zarathustra" is a great read and can be downloaded for free from Project Gutenberg website. Click here for the link to the page.