"God is dead."

~ Friedrich Nietzsche, 19th century German philosopher from Thus Spoke Zarathustra: A Book for All and None

Sir Nietzsche (one of my personas, btw :), liked to say that he delivered his philosophy "with a hammer" and was certainly looking for an immediate response from his "God is dead!" statement.

So, we all know that Nietzsche pronounced God dead.

But, did you know what he was getting at?

Nietzsche's philosophy paints the portrait of his ideal man, the “Uberman” or "Overman": an individual who, through self-discipline and his "will to power" has overcome his social conditioning and is, in Nietzsche's words, "beyond good and evil" and no longer needs God (or anyone else for that matter) to tell him what is moral.

Hence, the Overman lives. God is dead.

(For the record, Nietzsche did leave his possible belief in God open just a bit...Apparently, he "would believe only in a god who could dance.")

And, a friend of his stepped in for the final word on the matter:

“Nietzsche is dead.”

~ God