All that lives obeys

October of Zarathustra

When I first moved to New York City, I got invited to this discussion group that met up in someone's apartment. It was a cool apartment. It was like a social group that talked about meaty topics. 

I have no clue how I got invited, but I accepted the invite. I remember the topic the night I went was "authenticity." Zarathustra was into authenticity, too. Hypocrisy was a mood in my reading today. In "The Land of Culture" he says, "Truly you could wear no better masks, you men of the present, than your own faces! Who could—recognize you!"

Authenticity was having a moment when this event happened. This must have been like 2013 or 2014? I remember I had a strong position on authenticity at the time. I can't remember quite how I laid it out, but I was anti-authenticity. Not anti-being authentic, just anti authenticity policing. I didn't have much faith in anyone really knowing or not. I had a feeling people were flattering themselves.

It's like people who say they can always spot AI writing. Can you? It just seems like a way to be suspicious of each other, to create more walls between us than building bridges.

Anyway, I didn't get invited back to the group, whatever it was. 

On self-overcoming

Apparently this one was a bit of a comment on Schopenhauer. Zarathustra writes about the Will to Power in here. His point here, contra Schopenhauer (according to the end notes), is that once something is alive, it's just alive. It's will isn't about staying alive. It's will is about the pecking order of alive things. It's a Will to Power. 

He seems to critique something he calls a Will to Truth in here, too, and I confess I don't understand what he's saying about that. 

The sublime ones

Some people have the nerve to live up to their potential, and they are sublime.

The Land of Culture

Zarathustra disdains hypocrisy.

On Immaculate Perception

Zarathustra isn't crazy about the moon? The moon is sneaky. So are cats. Sneakiness is way sketch. "He who does not believe in himself always lies."

One line

“He has subdued monsters, he has solved enigmas. But he should also redeem his monsters and enigmas; into heavenly children he should transform them.”

Anywho. This hasn't been my best post in this series. I know it. I was traveling all weekend. I'll blame it on that. 

—Brady Dale
October 11, 2026

Next Zarathustra: Knit the socks of the spirit