Some things I've been pondering...

[Chris Wallace]

They say what doesn't kill you makes you stronger. But is this really true? Or does it make you bitter and more cynical; traits which are often mistaken for strength?
They say "There's a thin line between love and hate." Is this true, or do we just miss the signposts in-between? It seems to me that if you love someone, a lot of other emotions come into play-anger, resentment, frustration-before you can actually reach a state of hating that person. I think it's like falling asleep shortly after boarding an Amtrak train and waking up at your destination; you slept through it, you didn't see all the stops in-between, so to you it may seem like it was a short trip. In reality you were on the road for 10 hours. If you're in a relationship and it's going sour, your desire to make it work & your hope that this is just a "phase", may cause you to "sleep" through all of the other things you're feeling while on the road to "I can't &%*%&$&^$ stand you!" So by the time you realize what road you were on, it's too late.
Something to think about.

 

[C. Lee]

They say what doesn't kill you makes you stronger. But is this really true? Or does it make you bitter and more cynical-traits which are often mistaken for strength?

Depends on the person. Different people react differently to adversity.

 

[Majic Walrus]

They say what doesn't kill you makes you stronger. But is this really true? Or does it make you bitter and more cynical-traits which are often mistaken for strength?

Cynical traits are strength.

 

[Logan's Lady]

I don't agree that cynical traits are strength....

cynicism and strength are very different.

 

[The Spawn]

Cynicism doesn't = strength, but I will say you should consider it if you want to be strong.

 

[Captain Planet!]

Are you pondering what I'm pondering, Pinky?

 

[SLVRSR4]

They say what doesn't kill you makes you stronger. But is this really true? Or does it make you bitter and more cynical-traits which are often mistaken for strength?
They say "There's a thin line between love and hate." Is this true, or do we just miss the signposts in-between? It seems to me that if you love someone, a lot of other emotions come into play-anger, resentment, frustration-before you can actually reach a state of hating that person. I think it's like falling asleep shortly after boarding an Amtrak train and waking up at your destination; you slept through it, you didn't see all the stops in-between, so to you it may seem like it was a short trip. In reality you were on the road for 10 hours. If you're in a relationship and it's going sour, your desire to make it work & your hope that this is just a "phase", may cause you to "sleep" through all of the other things you're feeling while on the road to "I can't &%*%&$&^$ stand you!" So by the time you realize what road you were on, it's too late.
Something to think about.

Nietszche quotes aren't the best he says life without music wouldn't be worth living. You have to remember that he was so against nihilism that he said things like the above.

 

[SuperFerret]

Are you pondering what I'm pondering, Pinky?

Uh, I think so, Brain, but we'll never get a monkey to use dental floss.


Medically, whatever doesn't kill you, does make you stronger, that's what vaccines are for, but otherwise C. Lee is right, it depends on the person.

As for cynicism, it's not strength. Cynicism is pessimism disguised as realism. To really be strong, you need to be able to consider everything, not just the worst in life.

And the "thin line between love and hate", I'm not sure how true it is, but some may act like they hate others out of love. Both are incredibly complex emotions, and they aren't necessarily mutally exclusive.

 

[The Spawn]

We need to ban opinions...because some of them are just...lemme stop.

 

[November Rain]

i think cynicism as well as any other emotion can be a strength if it is an informed opinion.

going through bad stuff can make one's opinion more informed as long as the negative is taken into context and doesn't become a skewered perception of what went wrong and how you were affected by it.

 

[The Spawn]

^ This.

Keywords being "taken into context."

 

[November Rain]

I don;t think life gives many of us a chance to deal with things properly. Most problems get thrown under a rug somewhere. Alot of the time, we don't realise that most of our worries can be avoided but we blindly walk into them because its 'easier' to lie to yourself than it is to face facts.

when it comes to getting advice from someone from something that caused them grief, most people have lingering resentment and that's when the cynicism as we know it comes into play.

Try and pay attention to the ones who accept their failures and dont wish to pass them on to other people WITHOUT shooting down the experience itself.

personally, i don't like people who pre-judge things negatively. It doesn't do anyone any favours. I like to watch arty films i've never heard of and go into cinemas blind. I don't mind criticism afterwards but nobody should put anyone else off going through anything.

even If i don't like someone, i always make the best effort to make sure my friends don't see them through my eyes and rather their own.

 

[Chris Wallace]

Nietszche quotes aren't the best he says life without music wouldn't be worth living. You have to remember that he was so against nihilism that he said things like the above.

I didn't get that from Nietszche.

 

[Chris Wallace]

Cynical traits are strength.

Not if they're the main driving force behind your decisions.

 

[Majic Walrus]

Cynicism doesn't = strength, but I will say you should consider it if you want to be strong.

Not if they're the main driving force behind your decisions.

I agree with these statements.

 

[SLVRSR4]

I didn't get that from Nietszche.

He was nihilistic towards morality in the sense that it meant nothing, but didn't like the concept of life being meaningless because it was an excuse as November rain commented on earlier. That's what I got from him, but then he went crazy so

 

[PWN3R]

For some unknown reason my first response after reading the initial post was...Pinky and The Brain. This sounds like something off of Brain's blog or personal journal.

Awesome.

 

[Bonovox]

The first post raises some interesting questions. I wonder whether some people actually believe that "what doesn't kill you, makes you stronger," because I have been in a position where I had almost everything taken away from me. A little over a year ago, I got into some legal trouble, and found myself charged with a very serious crime. I wound up pleading guilty, and I lost a lot because of it. I lost the chance to live a normal life. I lost the respect of some of the people I knew and loved. I lost my job. A lot of people are afraid of me in my community. I have been harassed, had my property vandalized, and in a state of subdued misery. I have lived with what I did, and as much as I feel what I did shouldn't be illegal, society doesn't care. I haven't become stronger because of this life-altering event. I have become much more weaker. I can try to percervere through it all, but there is so much that I am unable to attain because of it.

Not a day goes by where I think that I could have and should have done something differently. Not a single day. I still relive the events that got me where I am. It makes me sick to think about it. I am thankful to be alive, but I wish things were different.

 

[spideyboy_1111]

It's really weird, being cynical could mean your able to laugh at the situation, which imo would be a strength, but at the same time, you could be cynical because your bitter, and if your bitter that'd be a weakness because you're technically not over the problem, so you'd be bitter.

 

[SoulManX]

Are you pondering what I'm pondering, Pinky?

I think so Brain but where are we going to find rubber pants our size

 

[SoulManX]

The first post raises some interesting questions. I wonder whether some people actually believe that "what doesn't kill you, makes you stronger," because I have been in a position where I had almost everything taken away from me. A little over a year ago, I got into some legal trouble, and found myself charged with a very serious crime. I wound up pleading guilty, and I lost a lot because of it. I lost the chance to live a normal life. I lost the respect of some of the people I knew and loved. I lost my job. A lot of people are afraid of me in my community. I have been harassed, had my property vandalized, and in a state of subdued misery. I have lived with what I did, and as much as I feel what I did shouldn't be illegal, society doesn't care. I haven't become stronger because of this life-altering event. I have become much more weaker. I can try to percervere through it all, but there is so much that I am unable to attain because of it.

Not a day goes by where I think that I could have and should have done something differently. Not a single day. I still relive the events that got me where I am. It makes me sick to think about it. I am thankful to be alive, but I wish things were different.

Dude I don't know if this helps but *gives an internet hug* Its going to get better

 

[Lighthouse]

Theres a strange irony that Nietzsche said this, and then, during the last 10 years of his life, he had a total mental breakdown, two strokes which took away his abilities to speak or walk, caught pneumonia a year later, had another stroke, and died. I often wonder how he felt about that statement after the second stroke.

 

[Cunning Stunts]

Theres a strange irony that Nietzsche said this, and then, during the last 10 years of his life, he had a total mental breakdown, two strokes which took away his abilities to speak or walk, caught pneumonia a year later, had another stroke, and died. I often wonder how he felt about that statement after the second stroke.

So bad he wished it killed him.

 

[The Guard]

I take the statement to mean "That **** which doesn't kill you enables you to endure even more ****".

Seems to work that way for a lot of people.