Reading Nietzsche — On the Famous Wise Men

Truthful I call him who goes into godless deserts, having broken his revering heart.  In the yellow sands, burned by the sun, he squints thirstily at the islands abounding in wells, where living things rest under dark trees.  Yet his thirst does not persuade him to become like these, dwelling in comfort; for where there are oases there are also idols.

It was ever in the desert that the truthful have dwelt, the free spirits, as masters of the desert; but in the cities dwell the well-fed wise men—the beasts of burden.  For, as asses, they always pull the people’s cart.  Not that I am angry with them for that: but for me they remain such as serve and work in a harness, even when they shine in harnesses of gold.

Have you never seen a sail go over the sea, rounded and taut and trembling with the violence of the wind?  Like the sail, trembling with the violence of the spirit, my wisdom goes over the sea—my wild wisdom.

But you servants of the people, you famous wise men—how could you go with me?

Thus spoke Zarathustra.

From Thus Spoke Zarathustra by Friedrich Nietzsche, translation by Walter Kaufmann