Nietzsche's great contribution was to demonstrate, with vigour and aplomb, that any attempt at truth or even meaning assumes a value system which is itself relativistic, largely arbitrary and certainly not geared to the discovery of truth or meaning. And as I get older I become more and more convinced that what really motivates even the best of us is not truth or freedom or love or anything to do with spirit at all, but simple survival and comfort, that is, laziness. This is why the Catholics say that spiritual progress is a matter of grace rather than hard work. Work, even when directed by an external agent (teacher/master), is largely our own – from and for the self.