nietzsche

Thus Spoke Zarathustra

I teach you the overman. Man is something that shall be overcome. What have you done to overcome him?... All beings so far have created something beyond themselves; and do you want to be the ebb of this great flood, and even go back to the beasts rather than overcome man? What is ape to man? A laughing stock or painful embarrassment. And man shall be that to overman: a laughingstock or painful embarrassment. You have made your way from worm to man, and much in you is still worm. Once you were apes, and even now, too, man is more ape than any ape... The overman is the meaning of the earth. Let your will say: the overman shall be the meaning of the earth... Man is a rope, tied between beast and overman—a rope over an abyss ... what is great in man is that he is a bridge and not an end. Friedrich Nietzche

Germany has been known for its great philosophers-Goethe,Kant,Marx,Schopenhauer and many others and its musicians-Beethoven,Wagner,Mozart, Handel and Bach. Both have played an important role in shaping modern Germany. But it was Nietzche who changed the course of history by his writings. Nietzche, I believe has been misunderstood in the West. The misapplication of his writings by Treitschke and others for the evil Nazi cause would have appalled the philosopher.

Neitzsche's message was simple-Man must exceed himself and become a superman! a message which is a recurrent theme in the ancient Indian and Greek writings. According to Nietzsche, Man is potentially divine but has forgotten his divinity and is hence unable to transcend his animal instincts. He was always against the herd mentality and stood for assertion of individuality!
His writings are a call to strength,purity,vitality and truth!