Are you a "camel", a "lion" or a "child"?

German philosopher Friedrich Wilhelm Nietzsche believed that there are three realms of the human spirit, camels, lions and children.

In the first stage, the spirit is like a camel, carrying the shackles of traditional morality, strong and able to carry loads. The premise and first requirement of freedom is the robustness of the life instinct and the strength of the will. The strength of the will determines the degree of freedom, and the expression of this strength is the domination of the will over the self and the resistance to resistance. Most of the human spirit starts from the "camel". "Camel" represents the spirit of obedience. People are carrying all these restrictions imposed on them, and they can't see the end of the day, just like camels keep moving forward in the endless desert.

In the second stage, the spirit is a lion, which symbolizes the spirit of daring to destroy traditional norms, gaining freedom and becoming its own master. In order to be free, you have to overcome all external challenges, all have evaluations, let yourself be your own master, get rid of the value system of all original things, and establish an evaluation system for yourself.

In the third stage, the spirit is the child, which represents the power to create new value after destruction, affirms life, and devotes itself to the creation and generation of life. Freedom of will is reflected in the generation of life. To create, to change, to make your life your own life.

camel:

It is a "winter" who bears the burden of humiliation and a test of endurance. To embark on the road of "lonely man" and "creator", one must first learn the perseverance of camels to endure the scorching sun and dry desert, and keep moving towards the rolling yellow sand and the boundless desert. "The spirit of perseverance and tolerance contains sincerity and respect, and he accepts heavy loads. He takes the initiative to ask for the heaviest and the heaviest."! What kind of spirit can bear such a burden? Only a strong, stoic and reverent spirit can bear such a burden: such a spirit humbly and actively asks for the heaviest and heaviest of burdens. "What is the heaviest?" asked the spirit of duty; and it knelt in the manner of a camel, asking for a true burden. "Heroes, what is the heaviest?" Asked the spirit of courage to bear, "Say it! Let me bear it, let my endurance bear it happily." Humility compromises arrogance; madness mocks wisdom: isn't it? That's it? Just when you are proud of the attitude of the bearer, you abandon the posture of pride; climb the mountain to face the "tempter": isn't it so? To feed oneself on the fruits and pastures of knowledge, to starve the soul for truth: is it not so? A deaf-mute who refuses comfort even when sick, suffers in silence, and pretends to be never understood: or is it like this? As long as it is the water of truth, one can leap into it regardless of the filth, and one does not dislike the cold and dirty and noisy rotten toad: or this one? To accept the scorners kindly, to reach out to the demons who terrorize us: is it not so? These heavy burdens and brave spirits are all carried on the body of the bearer, and he marches toward the desert recklessly, just like a camel with a load walking alone in the rolling yellow sand.

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lion:

In the lonely desert, the "spirit" completes the second transformation: here, the spirit transforms into a lion; he must fight, conquer, fight for freedom, and finally become the master of the desert. This is the strength of battle with absolute self-affirmation. It is a brave choice made by free will, even if it is the most difficult choice, you must break free from all authority, value and moral shackles, establish your own standards with firm will, and become a new spiritual nobleman . Therefore, Nietzsche used the majesty and strength of the lion as a symbol of this stage. Here he must seek his last master: with this master he must fight a final battle; he must wrestle with the dragon of fate. Who is the master he will not submit to? "Destiny" is its name. What the spirit of the lion proclaims is: "My will." Destiny, the great dragon, lies in the road, and peeps at the spirit of the lion; The gold letter of "Destiny"! Thousands of years of value shone on these scales. Said the supreme dragon: "All the values of things - they shine in me. All values have been created. And all created values - that's me, verily, the 'will' should not exist." Said the dragon. Brothers, what is the will of the spirit-transformed lion? Is the humility, reverence and responsibility of the camel not enough? Create new value! --Even the will of the lion is not enough: but to fight for liberty for new creations, --the strength of the lion is needed. To create liberty, to defy fate with a divine veto: this is the lion's work, brothers.

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Child:

To command new values—that is the hardest task of the revered and burdened spirit. In fact, for it, this is no different than a kind of plunder, a kind of behavior of the jungle. It once loved the "you should" that it regarded as the most sacred thing, but now it has to find the absurdity and arbitrariness in this very sacred thing in order to be free from this obsession. For this, we need lions. But tell me, brothers, what can a child do that a lion cannot do? Why does the fierce and plundering lion turn into a child? Children are innocent and forgetful, a new beginning, a game, a spinning wheel, a primitive movement, a divine affirmation. Yes, brothers, for the game of creation, life needs a divine affirmation: at this moment the spirit has a will of its own, and the exiles of the world return to their own world.