Vol. 06 · Misquoted ·Book ·326 of 348
"What doesn't kill you makes you stronger."
They never said that.
What people say
"What doesn't kill you makes you stronger."
What was actually said
"From the military school of life: what does not kill me makes me stronger." Friedrich Nietzsche — Twilight of the Idols (1888), §8 by Friedrich Nietzsche
Why it stuck
Nietzsche's maxim says "stronger." The pop-music version tidies the phrasing but otherwise travels intact.
Know another line by heart?
Play the duel and see how many you can spot. Or browse the whole shelf.