Will to Strength: Interpretations of Nietzsche's "What Does Not Kill Me Makes Me Stronger"

Few realize that the oft-quoted phrase, "What does not kill me makes me stronger," originates with the philosopher and artist Friedrich Nietzsche. But what does it truly mean to become stronger? What happens when we go beyond the famed cliché?

In Imperial's book, the radical possibilities of Nietzsche's concept of strength are explored through the lives and works of three historical exemplars: the aesthetic militant Yukio Mishima, the revolutionary psychiatrist Frantz Fanon, and the Holocaust survivor Viktor Frankl.

Through their intense journeys of suffering, these exemplars' struggles are interpreted as expressing distinct "styles" of strength-physical, linguistic, and existential-challenging the reader to see strength not as a static trait but as a dynamic, cyclical process of "becoming stronger" what the author views as the curation and composition of a "will to strength."

At a time when the concept of strength risks being dismissed as clichéd or outdated, this book reclaims its complexity and urgency, offering fresh perspectives on what it means to persevere, adapt, and transform. Whether you find Nietzsche's words inspiring, perplexing, or passé, this book will leave you rethinking the very nature of strength.