Allow the standard of each deed
To be a rare and true relation.
By nurturing a native seed,
You feed the source of elevation —
Feed courage, too, that has no need
For honors or for compensation.
Nobility is that which shows
A reverent, severe devotion
To higher gods that no one knows;
Its reason doesn't fear emotion
Or deepest health, which overflows
The limits of the widest ocean.
If you feel heat in what seems cold
And weigh your life on new-found scales,
You'll find the strength for yet more bold
Experiments and brave the gales
Of guilt and fear to hear an old
And inner voice that never fails.
With higher conscience as your star,
You'll grow into the one you are.
(cf. The Joyful Learning, §55, §270, §275, §294)
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Peter Saint-Andre > Writings > Nietzsche > Songs of Zarathustra