Correct Principles Cannot Be Destroyed. And they don’t care what your values are.

In his most famous work, Thus Spoke Zarathustra, philosopher Friedrich Nietzsche advocated for a revaluation of values. He railed against the morality of the Judeo-Christian tradition, declaring, “O my brothers, shatter, shatter the old law-tables!”

To Nietzsche, what he had previously declared to be the “death of God” threw everything into question (cf. The Joyous Science). As he came to see it, not only was there no God, but the universe was devoid of ordering principle, which led to an intellectual and even existential crisis in which he had to confront his own nihilism. Zarathustra was Nietzsche’s attempt to resolve that crisis.

“O my brothers, is everything not now in flux? Have not all railings and gangways fallen into the water and come to nothing? Who can still cling to ‘good’ and ‘evil’?” – Friedrich Nietzsche, Thus Spoke Zarathustra

But Nietzsche’s admonition to shatter the old-law tables was in vain; it simply isn’t possible to do so. If it were really possible then a person could negate that pesky thing we call conscience and behave on impulse and lust without compunction or remorse.

Values Aren’t Necessarily Principles

To clarify Nietzsche’s wrongheadedness in advocating for the shattering of what he refers to as the old law-tables, it’s important to understand the distinction between values and principles. The two are not necessarily inter-changeable, as Stephen R. Covey wrote in The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People. Covey likened values to maps and principles to the territory. Values can differ between individuals and groups, but principles are more fundamental. As Covey put it, 

“Principles are guidelines for human conduct that are proven to have enduring, permanent value. They’re fundamental. They’re essentially essentially unarguable because they are self-evident.”

Principles are what they are. They don’t change based on a person or group’s opinions or values. Navigating life with values that aren’t principle-centred is like trying to find your way around New York with a map of Chicago (to borrow from one of Covey’s analogies).

We Don’t Break Them; We Break Ourselves Against Them

In contravening the old law-tables, Nietzsche writes in favour of “Three Evil Things”: Sensual pleasure, lust for power, and selfishness. He makes his glorification of selfishness (and disdain for selflessness) explicit,

And he who declares the Ego healthy and holy and selfishness glorious – truly, he, a prophet, declares too what he knows: ‘Behold, it comes, it is near, the great noontide!’” – Friedrich Nietzsche, Thus Spoke Zarathustra

But in speaking against these evils, the old law-tables are principle-centred. And the principles upon which they are centred cannot be destroyed or negated by lust or desire. Nevertheless, each of us has a choice as to how we will live our lives, axiomatically facing the consequences of those choices. This is well summarised by Cecil B. DeMille, Director of the film The Ten Commandments,

“We cannot break the Ten Commandments. We can only break ourselves against them—or else, by keeping them, rise through them to the fulness of freedom under God. God means us to be free. With divine daring, he gave us the power of choice.”

A Pathway to Sustainable Success

We live in a noisy world full of distractions, temptations and challenges. Chaos abounds. Trust in figureheads and institutions is low. Families and societies are divided by anger and contention. How are we to live? Who, or what, are we to look to for guidance?

I empower others to answer these questions through my work as a mentor, having spent years researching the universal principles that are to be found in Judeo-Christian scripture and then making them accessible to all I work with, irrespective of belief or non-belief.

These principles are universally applicable. They haven’t been created by me or anyone else. They are only to be discovered, lived and benefitted from.

Those who do so will rise above the noise and chaos of the world around them to live lives of purpose, meaning and fulfilment, pursuing their unique path towards sustainable success.

If you’re feeling stuck and unsure of which way to go in life, I know exactly how you feel – I’ve been there myself. And I can tell you that it is possible for you to become unstuck and discover your unique path and purpose.

If you’d like to learn more or arrange a free 30-minute call then drop me a line: tom@3stewardships.com.

I look forward to hearing from you.