Was mich nicht umbringt, macht mich stärker: meaning and origin of Nietzsche’s quote

Was mich nicht umbringt, macht mich stärker is a famous line by Friedrich Nietzsche. It means “What doesn’t kill me makes me stronger.” Many people know the English version, “What doesn’t kill you makes you stronger”, but the original is worded differently.

What does “Was mich nicht umbringt, macht mich stärker” mean?

It means that a hardship you survive doesn’t break you; it makes you stronger. Word by word: was mich nicht umbringt is “what doesn’t kill me”, and macht mich stärker is “makes me stronger” (the verb machen). The meaning can be read in several ways:

• Literal: whatever does not destroy you completely gives you strength.
• Encouraging: after a hard time, you come out stronger.
• Philosophical: for Nietzsche, strength grows through struggle. He did not say that pain is good in itself.

• Was mich nicht umbringt“What doesn’t kill me.” A relative clause, so the verb goes to the end: umbringt.
• umbringento kill; here more loosely “to destroy”. The separable prefix um- joins the verb in a subordinate clause.
• stark — stärkerstrong — stronger. Note the umlaut: stärker, not starker.
• Das macht mich stärker.That makes me stronger.
• Die Krise hat ihn stärker gemacht.The crisis made him stronger. Perfect tense: hat … gemacht.
• Ich bin stärker geworden.I’ve become stronger. A change of state takes sein in the perfect: bin … geworden.

Where does the quote come from?

It comes from Nietzsche’s book Twilight of the Idols (Götzen-Dämmerung), written in 1888 and published in 1889. It is aphorism 8 in the section Sprüche und Pfeile (“Maxims and Arrows”). Nietzsche wrote in the first person, “me”. In English it is usually quoted with “you”, and that version became the popular one. The 2011 Kelly Clarkson song “Stronger (What Doesn’t Kill You)” spread the English wording even further.

How people understand and use it today

Today the line appears in motivational posts, sports talk and after hard periods. With someone who is going through real trauma or crisis, though, it can sound like “just endure it”, so choose the moment carefully:

• Encourage a friend: after a difficult exam — “It’s tough, but you’ll manage. What doesn’t kill you makes you stronger.”
• Joke: “What doesn’t kill you makes you stronger… but it makes you tired.”
• Talk about yourself: Das hat mich stärker gemacht. — “That made me stronger.” Use it when the hard part is already behind you.

For another German saying, about the power of practice, see Übung macht den Meister.

The most common mistake is writing starker instead of stärker. Another one: use mich, not mir. Umbringen takes a direct object (“whom? me”), so it needs the accusative case.

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