Thus Spoke Zarathustra
Also sprach Zarathustra
EditionTranslated from the original German
After ten years alone on a mountain, a prophet comes down to teach the Übermensch, and the crowd in the marketplace laughs at him.
Also in the library: the complete Korean translation.
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DRM-free files. Translation CC BY-NC 4.0; the original work is in the public domain.
About the book
At thirty Zarathustra leaves his home for the mountains. Ten years later he comes down, speaks to the rising sun, and goes into the town to teach the Übermensch; the people in the marketplace laugh and wait for the tightrope walker. From there come eighty speeches, songs, and parables, moving between the mountain, the cave, and the blissful islands, about how the human being might go beyond itself.
Nietzsche wrote the book as a parody of Luther’s Bible, so grand proclamation and sharp satire change places on the same page. In Part Four, when the higher humans gather in Zarathustra’s cave and end by worshiping a donkey, the prophecy turns out to be a bold comedy as well.
This complete English translation is made directly from the German of the first editions. It keeps all four parts and eighty sections, sets each of the 3,471 paragraphs of the source as one paragraph, keeps the word Übermensch, and adds only six short notes.
Highlights
- I teach you the Übermensch.
- “We have invented happiness,” say the last human beings, and they blink.
- One kills not with wrath but with laughter.
Contents
Anyone can read up to the first chapter. Chapters with a lock are open to free members.
Colophon
Translated from the original German. Licensed CC BY-NC 4.0.Full colophon
Thus Spoke Zarathustra
Original title · Also sprach Zarathustra. Ein Buch für Alle und Keinen
Author · Friedrich Nietzsche (1844–1900)
Translator · Ether Library
First publication · Parts One to Three, Chemnitz: Ernst Schmeitzner, 1883–1884; Part Four printed privately, Leipzig, 1885.
Source text · A public-domain digital transcription of the first editions, in their original spelling. Translated directly from the German.
Extent · Complete and unabridged · four parts · eighty sections · 3,471 paragraphs, as in the source · six short translator’s notes
Copyright · The author died in 1900; the original work is in the public domain.
This translation · Translated from the German by Ether Library. The English text is © Ether Library and is licensed under Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International (CC BY-NC 4.0): you may copy and share it for noncommercial purposes, with attribution.
Edition · English edition 1.0 · October 2026
Typography · Set in Lora (SIL Open Font License 1.1). Cover painting and design by Ether Library.
Original in the public domain · English translation CC BY-NC 4.0
Ether Library · No. 0009