What Doesn’t Kill Me Makes Me Stronger

What doesn’t kill me make me stronger is a proverb that describes toughness and resilience.  It means that going through difficult times makes you a stronger person.

This proverb comes from Fredrich Neitzsche’s work, Twilight of the Idols (1888).  The phrase was translated from German and has a widespread use.  Often, we use it after a failure to put a positive spin on the situation.  In a 2019 study, junior scientists that were rejected for a grant outcompeted their peers in the long run.

However, I think this is a dangerous proverb for a few reasons.  First, there are many bad things that happen that won’t make you stronger.   Terminal cancer is an obvious example here.  Also, it implies that if you can’t overcome something that it is your fault for not being strong enough.  There are many reasons for failure.  Sometimes it is out of the control of the person.  Sometimes it is because of other people, society, bad luck, or randomness that something fails.

What do you think? Does “whatever kills you makes you stronger”?

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Reference:
https://news.northwestern.edu/stories/2019/10/science-proves-that-what-doesnt-kill-you-makes-you-stronger
https://www.nature.com/articles/s41467-019-12189-3