What does not destroy/kill me, strengthens me

A

Anonymous

Guest

that which does not kill you makes you stronger

please help!
i need this phrase translated, not exactly, but as the general gist. I woudl really really appreciate the help!

the phrase: that which does not kill you makes you stronger

thanks!

lauren
 
L

Livia

Member

Location:
Ancient Roman Empire
Quod non me interfecit fortior me fecit (What hasn't killed me made me stronger)
Quod non me inferficit me corroborat (What doesn't kill me, makes me stronger)
 
A

Anonymous

Guest

What does not kill me makes me stronger

Hi

Can someone translate the phrase


What does not kill me makes me stronger


thank you so very much
 
Q

QMF

Civis Illustris

  • Civis Illustris
Location:
Virginia, US
(illud) quod non me necat me fortiorem facit.
That's probably the best literal translation, other vocabulary might be used by others.
 
C

Cato

Consularis

  • Consularis
Location:
Chicago, IL
quemquem me facis dixit:
(illud) quod non me necat me fortiorem facit.
That's probably the best literal translation, other vocabulary might be used by others.
Click to expand...
This is pretty good; I might argue for quodcumque instead of plain quod, and perhaps flipping non me -> me non for the sake of diction (or losing one of the me's entirely), but not very strongly. I like quemquem me facis's suggestion.
 
T

Taolen

New Member

What does not destroy me, makes me stronger

"What does not destroy me, makes me stronger."

I need a solid translation for a tattoo, please. I have suffered through a million ideas, and I like this one the best. Any and all help is appreciated.
 
Q

QMF

Civis Illustris

  • Civis Illustris
Location:
Virginia, US
I think this has already been done on this forum...lemme find a link.
 
T

Taolen

New Member

Thank you for the link, should you find it. I have no idea how to search for such things, being very new here.
 
T

Taolen

New Member

Checked the threads linked.

It could be either "quod non me interfecit fortior me fecit".
or "quod non me inferfecit me corroborit"

Does this read correct?
And, if I wanted destroy instead of kill, can you help me with that one.

I'm planning on having What does not destroy me on the top
and a lower section saying makes me stronger. If that is possible.
 
I

Iynx

Consularis

  • Consularis
Location:
T2R6WELS, Maine, USA
Taolen dixit:
Checked the threads linked.

It could be either "quod non me interfecit fortior me fecit".
or "quod non me inferfecit me corroborit"

Does this read correct?
And, if I wanted destroy instead of kill, can you help me with that one.

I'm planning on having What does not destroy me on the top
and a lower section saying makes me stronger. If that is possible.
Click to expand...
I think there are some problems here.

The biggest one is that corroboro is of the First Conjugation-- I think we want corroborat here not "corroborit".

Much less importantly:, the English has a present-tense verb in each clause. Not so this Latin. Interfecit is ambiguous: it could be present or perfect. But fecit can only be perfect ("has killed"). As it stands the sentence means "Whatever does not kill me (or has not killed me) has made me stronger". If we use the present tense (facit) for the second verb we lose the nice echo between interfecit and fecit, so maybe we do want fecit. But it should be understood that this is perfect, not present-tense.

The second version may be read (if we use corroborat) as present tense /present tense. If for some reason we wanted perfect /perfect it would be interfecit /corroboravit.

Thirdly (and of least importance) I would advise a slight alteration of the word-order:

Quod me non interfecit fortior facit me.

Quod me non interfecit corroborat me.

I was a little unsure that me fortior facit was idiomatic Latin, but it surely is; I find a very similar construction in Cicero.

************************************************************

I found myself wondering, Taolen, how the sentences you give ever made it past Cato and QMF, both of whom are very competent Latinists (that is to say that they generally make far fewer mistakes than I do). I wondered if I had somehow gone horribly astray. But no; I think I see how this situation arose. This question has been answered more than once in this forum. There was an answer by none other than Cato and QMF, earlier this month, which I might sum up as

Quod me non necat (me) fortiorem facit.

It was this answer, I am sure, to which Cato and QMF intended to refer you, and not to the (much earlier) reply from which your versions came. I hope that some confirmation of this surmise may be forthcoming from those gentlemen themselves.

***********************************************************

"What does not destroy me" might be Quod me non perdit or Quod me non destruet.
 
C

Cato

Consularis

  • Consularis
Location:
Chicago, IL
Iynx dixit:
There was an answer by none other than Cato and QMF, earlier this month, which I might sum up as

Quod me non necat (me) fortiorem facit.

It was this answer, I am sure, to which Cato and QMF intended to refer you, and not to the (much earlier) reply from which your versions came. I hope that some confirmation of this surmise may be forthcoming from those gentlemen themselves.
Click to expand...
Iynx has the correct version, which I thought was the one I linked to when searching for the one qmf mentioned. Perhaps in my haste I pointed you in the wrong direction.

I apologize for any confusion; I was out of town this weekend, and am only following up on this now.
 
T

Taolen

New Member

Back-translation: quid me non caedit me roborat

This is my final translation of "what does not destroy me makes me stronger"

Thank you to all who helped on my earlier thread, now can you please check this and give me the final seal of approval. I want tense and every possible correction to be made as Friday is my day to have this permanently placed.
 
T

Taolen

New Member

Guess my biggest worries involve the structure and if masculine is being used correctly. It's been over a decade since I had a latin course, so I am far beyond rusty and completely incapable of proofing this.
 
T

Taolen

New Member

I was hoping to have it read "what does not destroy me makes me stronger" but want the translation to not sound awkward. Any help is appreciated. = )
 
T

Taolen

New Member

And, is there a better word than caedit. I was thinking consumere{sp?}
and is roborat and caedit correct in tense/etc.
I'm lost, and need some help. : (
 
T

Taolen

New Member

THREAD: #1272

I received this from another friend, but I think you guys have it more together than she does. Using this link from my other thread, am I still in the right direction here.

I noticed that she isusing me roborat for strengthens me, is that acceptable?
 
T

Taolen

New Member

so then

Quid me non caedit me roborat

is perfect for What does not destroy me makes me stronger

Is there another word to use for caedit? I want the meaning Nietzsche intended, to be broken-destroyed-ruined etc.

And, corroborat is interchangable?
so Quid me non caedit me corroborat will work as well then.


Sorry to beat the proverbial dead horse, but Friday this will be permanent.
 
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