Whatever Doesn't Kill You
Whenever I hear someone say, "Whatever doesn't kill you makes you stronger," I become indignant and ask, "Do you know who said that? It was Nietzsche. He said it a couple times. It's in his autobiography, Ecce Homo: How One Becomes What One Is, and before the book was back from the printer, his mind had collapsed and he spent the last 11 years of his life a drooling, babbling idiot who couldn't feed or bathe himself. People argue about why he went mad: maybe it was syphilis, maybe it was drug use, maybe he just had weak nerves, but whatever it was, it didn't kill him and it didn't make him stronger. The AIDS virus doesn't kill you; it just weakens you so much that something like the common cold can. So I don't want to hear any more of this nonsense, because there are plenty of things don't kill you but don't make you stronger, either. Otherwise, we'd all be completely healthy and completely happy, or else dead."
posted by bluestocking at 8:47 AM
9 Comments:
I have the biggest crush on Freddy. Is that wrong?
Well, I think you have to use this phrase in the context of how resilient a person actually is; to see if he/she can bounce back from the adversity to become a stronger person.
think about it...
THANK YOU. I have been through a situation that certainly has weakened me, and if one more person says it to me...what I am going through surely will not kill me but is in no way making me any stronger.
Mun is right on this one, if you think about the rest of Nietzsche's philosophy he would argue that not being able to overcome a debilitating condition would be proof enough that one did not have the strength or will to survive and had already surrendered themselves to death even though they might still be breathing. The fact that Nietzsche succumbed to mental illness just goes to show that there are no exceptions in the struggle against weakness.
Thanks for the food for thought!
Way to take the the meaning of the quote completely out of context.
Nietzsche is speaking about the will to survive, and in most cases near-death experiences strengthen that will. I.E: That's the reason people can survive with chronic disease and life-crippling illness, because their want and need to survive the disease increases the sicker they get.
So, if you think about it, AIDS and Cancer and shit are proof of exactly what the quote is saying.
it's not talking about physical or mental health, but the desire for life.
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I'm so sick of these sunshine-slingers with their well-working lives who trot out that stupid saying. So sick of it I could puke. On them. I'd like to help "make them stronger" with a 2X4 to the head.
I have to disagree...with all respect, of course. Several comments here have pointed out personal struggles, pain, torment that individuals have endured...all sad accaounts, to be sure, yet within each comment was a bit of rancor at the silliness of someone suggesting that their struggles made them stronger somehow. I believe that the very response of disagreement is evidence that those struggles DID make them stronger in some way. Bear in mind, "strength" and "happiness" are definitely not the same. i don't think that even if we are strengthened in some inner way by a horrible event that we will necessarily be happy about it all. But coming through ANY hardship and finding the ability to move forward, to voice an opinion...these all point to a person possessing an inner fire that keeps them going. This statement should never be spoken tritely or without true understanding...it should be pondered and weighed heavily before being offered as a consolation or encouragement, otherwise the person in turmoil can feel slighted and disrespected. This should never be done. Ultimately, we do not know the mindset of Nietzsche during his decline. It may have taken every ounce of his remaining fortitude to simply continue drawing breath...we cannot know. Anyway, thanks to everyone who shared thoughts here, I was very blessed by the many different perspectives.
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