What doesn't kill you makes you stronger
Meaning: Adversity builds resilience and character.
Origin: From Friedrich Nietzsche's Twilight of the Idols (1888), in the section "Maxims and Arrows": "From life's school of war: what does not destroy me makes me stronger."
Equivalents in French, Spanish, Japanese, and German
- French: Ce qui ne te tue pas te rend plus fort (literally: What doesn't kill you makes you stronger)
- Spanish: Lo que no te mata te hace más fuerte (literally: What doesn't kill you makes you stronger)
- Japanese: 死なない程度の困難は人を強くする (Shinanai teido no konnan wa hito wo tsuyoku suru) (literally: Hardship that doesn't kill makes one stronger)
- German: Was mich nicht umbringt, macht mich stärker (literally: What does not kill me makes me stronger)
More proverbs about Challenge
- Nothing ventured, nothing gained — You must take risks to achieve rewards.
- Out of the frying pan, into the fire — Escaping one bad situation only to end up in a worse one.
- The road to success is paved with failure — Success requires learning from mistakes.
- Walk softly and carry a big stick — Act gently but maintain the power to enforce if needed.
- Opportunity knocks but once — Chances don't come twice; seize them when they appear.
- The bigger the risk, the bigger the reward — Greater rewards require greater risks.
From our untranslatable words
- Backpfeifengesicht — A face that is just begging to be slapped — someone so smug you can't help the urge.
- Tartle — That panicky pause when you go to introduce someone and realize you've forgotten their na…
- Tampo — Pulling back your warmth and affection when you've been hurt — going quiet and distant, h…