Clara Tanone - Q6: Is it true that what doesn't kill you can only make you stronger?

[Clara Tanone]

Hey guys,

 

I was just wondering what do people mean when they say "what doesn't kill you can only make you stronger"?

 

And is this always necessarily true?

 

In what situations is the statement true and in what situations is the statement false?

 

When people say this do they mean "what doesn't kill you (but almost does) can only make you stronger"?

 

What's the meaning of this? Has anyone ever heard of this common saying? If so, do you know what it means?

 

Thoughts/opinions would be welcomed and appreciated!

 

Thanks,

Clara Tanone

[Sensei]

I was just wondering what do people mean when they say "what doesn't kill you can only make you stronger"?

It means that you will gain knowledge and experience.

Learning from failures, and draw conclusions for future, to not repeat them again.

Edited October 26, 2015 by Sensei

[Roamer]

It's something that people say when they come across hardships they can not avoid.

It's usefull to to the human psyche to have something to hope for, a goal to achieve,

and if there is no other reward for the hardship, the least a person can hope for is that this particular hardship will become easier to deal with in the future.

 

Becoming stronger holds true in many ways, for example sickness will make your immune system stronger,

adversary will make your will more focused etc;

 

Basically, biological entities are very good at ADAPTING, which (partly) is (re)focusing effort to deal with the problems at hand

Though actually going out and trying to overcome (random) hardships is generally not a good idea

since hardships can(and will) damage one's health/psyche/social status.

Easy practice is a better alternative.

[Phi for All]

It's technically false, since some infections like pneumonia can compromise the immune system and make one more susceptible to illness. There are many illnesses that can leave you too weak to fight back.

[pwagen]

If you have your limbs cut of, one can argue you're not as strong as before.

[Delta1212]

It's generally a statement about experience and learning to overcome obstacles.

 

Physically, it's obviously not literally true as many things are capable of weakening you without killing you and often do lasting damage.

 

Mentally it's also not strictly true as traumatic events can leave deep psychological scars.

 

But there is a kernel of truth that overcoming one hardship can often make it easier to deal with other problems in the future. As with most such sayings, though, it over-generalizes by quite a bit.

[pwagen]

But there is a kernel of truth that overcoming one hardship can often make it easier to deal with other problems in the future. As with most such sayings, though, it over-generalizes by quite a bit.

In the light of this, I'd like to reconsider my post. Even if you get your limbs cut of (physical injury), you might overcome that "hardship". If you do, I guess one can as easily argue you're stronger (mentally) due to it.

[CharonY]

Or you may succumb to your hardship. Either way, it is a saying and not meant to be literal.