A Message to the Lonely from Nietzsche and Jung

Jul 11, 2025

Go into your solitude with your love and with your creating, my brother; only later will justice follow you limping.
Go with your tears into your solitude, my brother. I love him who wants to create beyond himself and thus perishes.
Thus spoke Zarathustra¹.

Today we explore one of the most emblematic chapters of Thus Spoke Zarathustra (“On the Way of the Creator”), as it addresses one of the most sorrowful conditions of the human being: solitude.

Nietzsche begins by saying:

Do you want to withdraw into solitude, my brother? Do you want to seek the path to yourself? Then pause for a moment and listen to me².

Carl Jung explains it:

In this chapter, it is obvious that the one who is seeking is confronted with the Self and only with the Self, not with the friend. But if he is dealing with this issue, he is solitary and must be solitary. He will seek the path alone because he has to.
No one else is on the path to himself, only he alone³.

Nietzsche begins this discourse by addressing someone who seeks to withdraw into solitude in order to find the path to themselves—what, in Jungian terms, would be the process of achieving psychological wholeness or individuation.

Additionally, he implicitly suggests that to discover our most authentic voice, we must step away from the herd. It’s also enlightening to interpret it in reverse:

Solitude is an opportunity to find our most authentic voice.

Thus, this chapter serves both as a guide and a source of consolation for those beginning their journey.

It is important to emphasize that, in this context, solitude is not simply the absence of others, but rather the full awareness that we exist alone within our being—and that in this difficult path of development, we can count solely on ourselves, as Jung points out.

Jung warns that this path is one we embark upon out of necessity—an inner obligation stemming from something beyond our ego. Everything indicates that this imperative arises from the Self.

The message is clear: by recognizing our solitude and experiencing the cold emptiness it brings, we become fully aware that we are individuals (units).

This is the peculiar confrontation with our totality.

Often, this totality first appears as a vast emptiness or a painful sense of lack. Yet that very sensation marks the way forward.

In other words, we must walk through our inner voids—our sadness, fears, and complexes.

A difficult journey, unquestionably—the challenge of being alone with oneself.

This confrontation can be terrifying, yet to face it is to look directly into the core of what one is and what one might become. Hence, it is the path toward wholeness.

It is a solitary battle with an outcome dependent solely on ourselves.

Thus, even though it is necessary and beneficial to have companions and allies along the way, the truth remains: we are ultimately alone in our journey, for only from within can emerge the completeness capable of fulfilling us.

Jung and Nietzsche, in essence, tell us:

To become who you are, you must be willing to stay alone with yourself.

The Suffering of Leaving the Herd

Nietzsche later says:

"Whoever seeks easily loses himself. All solitude is guilt"—thus speaks the herd. And you were part of the herd for a long time⁴.

Carl Jung comments on this:

He draws attention to the fact that by seeking the Self, one will be doing what everyone says is wrong, and everyone will say he is an egotist. Because they are reminded in a very unpleasant way that if this path must be recognized, if a dozen other people find it valid to seek themselves, then it must be true—and they too should begin seeking the Self.
This would be very unpleasant and therefore should be crushed or flattened at the beginning, trampled to the ground so that no one supports it: their great fear would be that someone else might say the same.
We can extinguish a small fire with our foot, but if there are several, it becomes more difficult.
Furthermore, not only others, but also the collective consciousness within him will say: “Aren’t you completely wrong? You’re not being altruistic, you don’t love your neighbor, you don’t forget yourself, you’re always with your ego and nothing but your ego—and that’s why you’re wrong.”
That would be the view of the collective consciousness, the herd consciousness⁵.

The herd is not just the opinions of others or the society we belong to. More deeply, it refers to the way we have been socially conditioned.

Many people contaminate the path to self-realization with a hidden ego-driven desire for approval or recognition, only to find the opposite: rejection or envy.

The seeker becomes a threat to the collective soul—not because of their actions, but because of what they awaken in others.

It is highly likely that the collective voice—our inner critic—will act as an internal judge.

No external condemnation is needed; self-censorship, shame, and sabotage often take over.

Hence, the true challenge lies not only in facing the judgment of others but also in transcending the inner moral pressure: to move beyond guilt, fear, and the distorted sense of duty.

It’s not only about what others say—it’s about how we interpret it. The meaning we give to their opinions becomes the real obstacle.

Yet we are not called to take the path alone because others will not follow us, but rather because this path is, by nature, solitary—even with the support of an entire army.

At some point, we will have to confront the most terrifying aspects of our inner world—our fears, complexes, and insecurities.

And we will face them alone, as we did the first time we stood in front of an audience or confessed our love to someone.

Whatever the result, we felt—at least for a moment—that it was us alone against the world. And most likely, it was.

Learn to Be with Yourself to Rediscover Yourself

Nietzsche later says:

The voice of the herd will still sound within you. And when you say “I no longer have the same conscience as you,” this will be a lament and a pain.
Look, this pain too was engendered by that unique conscience. And the last light of that conscience continues to shine upon your tribulation.
But do you intend to take the path of your tribulation, which is the path to yourself? Then show me your right and your strength to do so!⁶

Jung explains:

The term “tribulation” means suffering, but we can expand that concept. We can make any kind of tribulation fit into this frame:
For example, there are people who are not at all with themselves because of their herd consciousness.
They cannot do anything by themselves because, with at least one leg, they believe in the late Christian ideal—and with that one leg, they go into their neighbor’s garden.
Naturally, they are divided, because the other leg remains at home: they are dissociated.
That’s why this tribulation can be similar to a state of neurosis.
When the patient decides to follow the path to himself, doctors, friends, and newspapers will say he is wrong—that it is unhealthy, morbid. We hear it everywhere.
For example, when a young person comes to therapy, perhaps their mother or father comes too, and I usually hear: “Don’t you think it’s dangerous for people to care so much about themselves?”⁷

Nietzsche speaks of someone who has developed a unique conscience and notes that it is both the source of pain and solitude—perhaps because the clarity gained reveals just how alone one truly is.

Hence, tribulation represents the unavoidable suffering that arises when the individual begins to detach from the herd.

Thinking for oneself is dangerous.

Seeking oneself is suspicious.

This separation from the herd will echo deeply within, even as one approaches their true self.

Let us consider a more practical example: someone who decides to face their addictions through deep meditation.

At some point, the practitioner may come to realize that their self-destructive habits serve as a means of avoiding themselves.

That their chronic boredom stems from being unable to sit with their own presence.

As they learn to be with themselves—alone, in silence, without distractions—something within begins to awaken.

Thus, the path of solitude must be followed to its end—not just to the point of awareness, but to the realization that we ourselves are the most valuable possession we have.

Only then will we be ready to love ourselves.

On this, Nietzsche left us a quote with which we conclude:

What does he know of love, he who has not had to despise precisely what he loved?⁸

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Sources:

1, 2, 4, 6, 8: Thus Spoke Zarathustra, Part One, Chapter 7, “On the Way of the Creator”

3, 5, 7: Notes of the Seminar Given in 1934–1939, November 1935, Session VI. Carl Jung's commentary on Nietzsche's Thus Spoke Zarathustra

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