What does not kill me makes me stronger

What does not kill me makes me stronger (German: Was mich nicht umbringt, macht mich stärker) is part of aphorism number 8 from the "Maxims and Arrows" section of Friedrich Nietzsche's Twilight of the Idols (1888).

It is quoted or alluded to by many other works, with minor variants in wording.

Music

Albums

• If It Don't Kill You, It Just Makes You Stronger, a 1989 album by Bruce Willis
• What Doesn't Kill You... (Candiria album), 2004
• Ono što te ne ubije, to te osakati ('The thing that does not kill you, makes you stultified'), a 2004 album by Goribor
• What Doesn't Kill You... (Blue Cheer album), 2007
• What Doesn't Kill Us, a 2008 album by What Made Milwaukee Famous
• What Doesn't Kill Me... (Ektomorf album), 2009
• What Doesn't Kill Me... (Young Sid album), a 2010 album by Young Sid
• What Doesn't Kill You, Eventually Kills You, a 2011 album by Gay for Johnny Depp

Songs (including notable lyrics)

• "O,ti De Skotonei" ("Ό,τι δε σε σκοτώνει"), a 1991 song by Nikos Portokaloglou on the album Siko Psychi mou, Siko Chorepse
• "Only God Can Judge Me", a 1996 song by 2Pac on the album All Eyez On Me
• "Stronger" (Kanye West song), a 2007 song ("...that that don't kill me / can only make me stronger")
• "What Doesn't Kill You", a 2009 song by Takida on the album ...Make You Breathe
• "Stronger (What Doesn't Kill You)", a 2011 song by Kelly Clarkson, originally titled "What Doesn't Kill You (Stronger)"
• "What Doesn't Kill You" (Jake Bugg song), a 2013 song by Jake Bugg
• "Not Gonna Die", a 2013 song by Skillet from the album Rise ("What doesn't kill me makes me stronger")
• "Doesn't Kill You", a 2016 song by The Anchoress on the album Confessions of a Romance Novelist
• "You Ain't Ready", a 2019 song by Skillet from the album Victorious ("What doesn't kill me makes me who I am")
• "Memento Mori: The Most Important Thing the World", a 2020 song by Will Wood from The Normal Album
• "What Doesn't Kill Me", a 2021 song by Kacey Musgraves on the album Star-Crossed
• "Crown On My Head", a 2024 song by Yeji of the South Korean girl group Itzy, from the EP Born to Be
• "6 Months Later", a 2025 song by Megan Moroney ("What doesn't kill you calls you six months later")
• "RAWFEAR", a 2025 song by Twenty One Pilots ("You know what kills me? Not getting stronger")

Other uses

• What Doesn't Kill You (film), a 2008 American crime drama by Brian Goodman
• What Doesn't Kill You, a 2012 spy novel by Iris Johansen
• "A Maxim for Vikings", a grook by Piet Hein