Chapter 4 Prologue IV of Zarathustra

But Zarathustra looked at the crowd and was amazed.Then he said again: "Man is a rope between the beast and the Superman—a rope over the ravine. It is dangerous to go the other way, it is dangerous to stop halfway, it is dangerous to look back, it is dangerous to tremble or not to go forward. The greatness of being human is that it is a bridge and not an end.The beauty of human beings is that it is a process and a decline. I love those who only know how to live for the downfall.Because they are the ones who cross the bridge. I love those big scorners.For they are great worshipers, arrows of longing that shoot beyond.

I love those who don't first look to the stars for some reason to go down and make sacrifices, but sacrifice for the earth, so that the earth can one day belong to the Superman. I love the man who invents to build a superman's dwelling, to prepare the earth, its flora and fauna for his work.In this way, he pursues his downfall. I love him who cherishes his morality: for morality is a will to fall and an arrow of longing. I love the man who keeps no part of his spirit to himself, but desires to be wholly his moral spirit: thus he crosses the bridge spiritually. I love the man who makes his morality his inclination and destiny: so that he may live or die for his morality.

I love the man who would not have many virtues.One morality is better than two, because that morality is more a knot of fate. I love the man who wastes his soul, who gives neither thanks nor thanks: for he always gives, and keeps nothing for himself. I love the man who is ashamed to see the dice in his favour, and who asks himself: Am I a cheating gambler? —Because he wants to die. I love him who speaks before deeds, and practice more than promises: for he seeks his downfall. I love him who gives meaning to the life of the future and saves the past: he is willing to die for the present.

I love him that punishes God: because he loves God; because he will perish in the wrath of God. I love the man who, while wounded, is deep in soul, and a little adventure can kill him: so he will cross the bridge without hesitation. I love the man whose soul is too full to forget himself, and who has everything in him: so everything becomes his downfall. I love him that is free both in spirit and in heart: so his head is but the guts of his heart; but his heart brings him down. I love those who, like heavy raindrops, descend one by one from the black clouds that hang high in the sky: they herald the coming of lightning, and die like heralds.

Behold, I am a herald of lightning, a heavy raindrop from the clouds: but this lightning is Superman. "