Quotation
Last reviewed:
“Out of life's school of war: what does not destroy me makes me stronger.”
Friedrich Nietzsche · Genealogy and perspectivism · Modern · 1888
What does it mean?
The maxim is from life's school of war: what does not destroy me makes me stronger. Nietzsche is praising a type that can incorporate a difficulty, not promising that every survivor is improved, and not issuing medical advice. A rival reading, fair to his own other pages, notes that suffering also embitters and diminishes, and that Twilight of the Idols is full of darts rather than of a whole psychology. The German is a published maxim of 1888.
Did Friedrich Nietzsche really say this?
The library’s label is Paraphrase or translation. Kaufmann's English of a published maxim. The German is secure. It is not a medical claim and not an instruction to seek harm. The familiar 'what does not kill me' is a later smoothing of this line.
Where it comes from
Twilight of the Idols, Maxims and Arrows §8, in Walter Kaufmann's translation
Approximate date: 1888.
How to use it
Do not text this sentence to a friend in the middle of a bad ward round in Birmingham and call it support. If you use it on yourself after the fact, let it mean that you will look for what capacity the episode left, not that the hurt was good because it hurt.
A mindset reading
A maxim in Twilight of the Idols is a dart. Elsewhere he knows suffering can shrink a person. Quoting the dart as his whole view of pain is how the sentence became a poster.
Understand the philosophy
The maxim sits with his attack on pity and on moralities that try to abolish risk. Strength, for him, is an increase of form and power, not stoic endurance for its own sake. The two are constantly confused, including by people who admire him.
- resilience
- self
FAQ
What does it mean?
The maxim is from life's school of war: what does not destroy me makes me stronger. Nietzsche is praising a type that can incorporate a difficulty, not promising that every survivor is improved, and not issuing medical advice. A rival reading, fair to his own other pages, notes that suffering also embitters and diminishes, and that Twilight of the Idols is full of darts rather than of a whole psychology. The German is a published maxim of 1888.
Did Friedrich Nietzsche really say this?
Paraphrase or translation. Kaufmann's English of a published maxim. The German is secure. It is not a medical claim and not an instruction to seek harm. The familiar 'what does not kill me' is a later smoothing of this line.
Which work is it in?
Twilight of the Idols, Maxims and Arrows §8, in Walter Kaufmann's translation Approximate date: 1888.