That which doesn't kill you only makes you ... ??

[FlyersFan]

File this under 'philosophy'??

"That which doesn't kill you only makes you stronger"
That's what the saying goes.   
Hardship and suffering, if you survive it, makes you stronger.
But is that true?

That which doesn't kill you only makes you ______ ... What?   
Fill in the blank.

For me it is .... That which doesn't kill you only makes you bitter.
Yep.  Bitter.  
When I suffer or there are problems, I just get pissed off.
My religion says that suffering brings us closer to God.
Maybe.   Sometimes I can see that.
Yes, you do become more compassionate and empathetic ... perhaps.

But when it goes on and on and on ... and it piles on with more suffering and problems ....
I just get pissed off and bitter.

So ... Does that which doesn't kill you only make YOU stronger?
If so, you are doing life better than me.
Or is it something else?

[user123]

That which doesn't kill you may make you stronger, but sometimes it just leaves you maimed and crippled.   "Maimed and crippled" /= "stronger".  I think Nietzsche was absolutely full of shit on this issue.   And the emotion behind that last statement supports your conclusion as well.

[UltraBudgie]

Hmm, I dunno. I can see both sides. I've been through some pretty terrible grief in my life, spiralled into despair, wished for death -- you know, the usual. Didn't kill me. Was bitter about that for a while. Now I figure all happens in its time, eh? Anyway, when life recently, in its lovable way, dealt me another heaping dose of tragedy and death, I've found myself strangely able to handle it. Not perfectly, of course, but it's not crippling me like it would have years ago. I'm able to be here for my remaining family, helping such as I can. I don't feel particularly scarred or numb, or bitter, just maybe, um, widened? Like I can empathize totally with the grief, tears, and despair of others, but I've seen that valley now, and the other side, and I don't feel lost in it any more, or crushed by hopelessness. Just feeling everything and doing what I can. I dunno if that's stronger, but whatever.

[ArMaP]

File this under 'philosophy'??

"That which doesn't kill you only makes you stronger"
That's what the saying goes.   
Hardship and suffering, if you survive it, makes you stronger.
But is that true?

That which doesn't kill you only makes you ______ ... What?   
Fill in the blank.

More knowledgeable. At least you will know that whatever it was it wasn't enough to kill you.

Yes, I'm an optimist, but why not?

[Sirius]

From an NDE experience I had I can tell you that any pain you take with you will be repeated, so you have to learn to leave it behind, it has to stay in this world.  That was the reason I came back, to deal with it in the here and now.

[Tecate]

I believe that the word “stronger” in this phrase refers to more capable of dealing with any following issues. In other words, meh, that didn’t kill me, so this sure won’t.

We all have times that we can look back at and say holy shit, how did I get through that? Be it physical injury, mental health or a myriad of other things.

I believe Nietzsche was unable to explain to our satisfaction what he was getting at.

Sometimes I think that it’s all a learning process, experience = strength.

My 2 pesos…


Tecate

[Anna]

"Out of life's school of war: What does not kill me makes me stronger." Said Nietzsche in the "Twilight of the Idols" either seriously or ironically.

I can't really say because I don't know much about Nietzsche's philosophy. But this maxim smells to me of perverted Darwinism (or Darwinism as an average idiot is imagining, not to be confused with the real Darwin's theory), which conflates natural selection with "the survival of the fittest" (with fitness understood as something based on merit rather than adaptation) and bestows upon personified nature such human qualities and behaviors like the sense of purpose, the sense of direction and the desire for progress (with progress understood as getting nearer and nearer the idea of perfection).

Such insane approach to life doesn't take into account the external circumstances, which more often decide about the individual's survival than his or her own efforts. Sometimes, it's mere chance or luck or other people or nature that decide about your "to be or not to be." Here is when reality is at odds with "the will to power" BS.

And there's an empirical evidence for that. At least in my case.

When my parents died, it wasn't such a blow to me. I got over it pretty quickly. But it wasn't because I did it with my own efforts. I had a job, a network of friends who supported me and the money, the inheritance that my parents left me with. 

Later on my employer had financial issues. He cut down our working time and our incomes together with it. I started looking for additional job with not much luck. And then one day my colleague came into the room where I and another colleague were sitting and drinking coffee and said: People, have you tried applying to (insert my current employer here)? And I went there, changed my job, got more money and better working conditions. 

Another day, my radiator started leaking, then pouring water. And luckily I was at home then, not away.

And I can name many other adversities in my life that could turn much worse for me if God's Providence wasn't looking after me. An unbeliever would say it was mere coincidence but it's all the same in essence; the point is that there are many things that do not depend on us and our efforts. Having realized that, maybe I should change it into: What doesn't kill you, makes you more humble?

And now for suffering making you bitter, I have yet to find a person whom suffering makes happy, who welcomes problems with joy. Sure, one can deceive oneself but resilience doesn't necessarily make you happy.

[putnam6]

Makes you stronger in a nice saying, but so many variables involved. Was reading about the man just released from Hamas after 400-plus days being held beaten tortured starved made to eat rotten bread etc. He came out looking very gaunt and malnourished. While the Hamssholes kidnapped him, they murdered his wife and children, he didn't know they had been murdered the day he was abducted, I can't imagine the anguish and heartbreak. He isn't stronger now, he has another ordeal to go through, the one in his mind. He has to let it go but there is no way something like that doesn't scar you for life, it might make him "stronger" down the road but the effect is not immediate

[FlyersFan]

From an NDE experience I had I can tell you that any pain you take with you will be repeated, so you have to learn to leave it behind, it has to stay in this world.  That was the reason I came back, to deal with it in the here and now.

What do you mean?

Repeated in the afterlife?   That you create a purgatory or hell or heaven with you own emotions?

Or repeated as in you are reincarnated and you have to deal with it in another life again?

Expand on what you said please.  Thanks.  I'm interested.

[sahgwa]

File this under 'philosophy'??

"That which doesn't kill you only makes you stronger"
That's what the saying goes.   
Hardship and suffering, if you survive it, makes you stronger.
But is that true?

That which doesn't kill you only makes you ______ ... What?   
Fill in the blank.

For me it is .... That which doesn't kill you only makes you bitter.
Yep.  Bitter.  
When I suffer or there are problems, I just get pissed off.
My religion says that suffering brings us closer to God.
Maybe.   Sometimes I can see that.
Yes, you do become more compassionate and empathetic ... perhaps.

But when it goes on and on and on ... and it piles on with more suffering and problems ....
I just get pissed off and bitter.

So ... Does that which doesn't kill you only make YOU stronger?
If so, you are doing life better than me.
Or is it something else?

That which does not kill you makes you in more pain but used to more pain. 
Tougher/jaded/cynical/grumpy. 

lol