The Night Song
You will find your soul too in the silence of darkness because it is not of the mind; it is even deeper than the heart, but heart is a bridge. If you can sing a song of love you are not far away from the sound of your soul – it is very close. Love and your soul are neighbors.
Something unquenched, unquenchable, is in me, that wants to speak out. A craving for love is in me, that itself speaks the language of love.
Light am I: Ah, that I were night! But this is my solitude, that I am girded round with light..
I live in my own light, I drink back into myself the flames that break from me.
I do not know the joy of the receiver; and I have often dreamed that stealing must be more blessed than receiving.
Zarathustra again and again emphasizes the fact that to give something to someone is to hurt his pride. Hence, giving has to be very articulate, very artful. You should not give in such a way that the other is humiliated. But that’s what happens. People really don’t want to give, they want to humiliate. Giving is just an excuse for hurting the pride of someone – it is ugly and inhuman.
Giving needs a great heart, and a great art. It should be given in such an indirect way that the receiver does not feel any kind of humiliation, but on the contrary feels a great love, feels your acceptance, feels that you have enjoyed giving to him more than he has enjoyed receiving, feels that he is not obliged to you but you are obliged to him. One should give in such a way that the other is respected, raised higher.
I do not know the joy of the receiver.
Zarathustra says, “I am poor in the sense that I do not know the joy of the receiver; because I am so fulfilled I do not need anything. I am so entirely complete that there is no way for anyone to give anything to me.”
Hence:
I do not know the joy of the receiver; and I have often dreamed that stealing must be more blessed than receiving.
I do not know the joy of receiving, but I have seen people receiving things, and I have seen their pride is hurt, their dignity destroyed. They are turned into beggars.
That’s why.
I have often dreamed that stealing must be more blessed than receiving.
Excerpted From Zarathustra: A God That Can Dance CH: 23
