“What doesn’t kill you makes you stronger”I’ve heard this quote many times. It’s probably one of Nietzsche’s most memorablequotes – it aptly reflects the human condition, and it motivates, very much so. Itmotivates the hell out of me, at least. And I suspect – that Nietzsche quite ironically, wasforeseeing his own future, becoming stronger and stronger, until he met his doom andfaced death head on. He died an insane man, but a strong one.Is it not true, that we all have suffered tremendously, at one time or another? We allsuffer. Actually, we

should

suffer. It is our suffering (be it extreme or minimal) thathighlights and marks our necessities, which in turn motivates innovation and creativity,which then breeds solutions. And that, is how we have gotten everything we take for granted today: technology (light, radio, television, cars, planes, computers), religion(every major religion has come from the need for a loving God, order and moral ethics), philosophy (the need to answer the questions that religion only answers dogmatically)and human relationships (our need to love has spurned on the institution of marriage, andthe concept of a family). The human race has exploited the hell out of these commodities(economically speaking) and has built over what the previous generations have built.So, none of these needs every killed anyone – did they? On the contrary, these samewants and needs produced a flurry of pro-active elements, represented by individuals,organizations, and at times, whole masses of people (countries and such), which alltogether, made a difference by taking a single need and properly addressing it.At the beginning of the 1900’s, the Ottoman Empire was crumbling, right after its defeatin WWI, and having to face soon its imminent partition, Mustafa “Ataturk” Kemal (TheTurkish Republic’s first leader – and its creator), quickly addressed the need for Turkey torise above their miser state and form a Turkish Republic. So this one man, along with hiswhole countrymen, revolutionized the Ex-Ottoman stronghold, and turned it into amighty secular state. Had the Ottoman Empire not suffered through a bitter disintegrationduring the beginning of the 20

Century, the Turkish Republic might have beensomething totally different now.Instead of standing idly and waiting for occupying Allied forces to decide their future, theTurks took matters into their own hands, and decided to “not die” and thus, “becomestronger” as Nietzsche points out in his quote.Turkish fervor and nationality was notoriously spread around since the inception of theRepublic – a behavior that holds much in common with all newly-founded republics thathave, just like Turkey, developed strong nationalistic feelings at the moment of their creation. It should come as no surprise that the Turkish People are one of the mostoutright Nationalistic peoples ever. The cruel defeat and collapse of their once-mightyEmpire was reduced to a single Peninsula, leaving many people overwhelmed by thecrushing of what they had once held: “Ottoman Pride”. Yet, Ataturk, the Turkish Leader,

made the people stronger, something for which he is strongly revered for today, by allTurks.I have no proper say in these matters, I only hold a third parties’ opinion, this because Iam not a Turk myself – but, so far, I’ve managed to gather a foreigner’s point of view onall of this, thanks to what has been said and discussed with Turkish friends, and I think that with that, I hold enough information on these matters so as to be sure not to claimany sort of falsehood. However, the point of this narrative, which focuses on thefoundation of the Turkish Republic, is not so much for the historical sense, as I mean for it to be. I put forth this example because it manifests Nietzsche’s quote and turns it into areality. The actions that were taken during the founding of Turkish State were deathly (interms of the boldness of those changes), yet were carried out with diligence. For thatsame reason, people go out of their way to praise any individual with the valor, courageand strength to carry out the sort of actions most people would “die from”. This explains,at least to me, why Turks love their leader, Ataturk so much.It explains why South America reveres Simon Bolivar. It explains why Winston Churchillis such and admirable historical figure, despite having made huge mistakes in judgmentduring his career in Politics and the Military. It even explains why Hitler, Stalin, Pol Pot,Idi Amin and other dead dictators are so ardently despised. These tyrannical demagoguesin one way or another, strengthened in valor, conviction in the face of the opposition(albeit criminally), up to the point where they reached the pinnacle of power; buttingheads amongst the most powerful men in the world – yet all of these men would later die,and be resented, hated, and regarded as abominable human beings. Power comes and power goes. It is the real and enduring strength that comes from pure goodwill, whichlasts – not the perturbed actions of warmongers and megalomaniacs. So, even though“what does not kill” some, makes them “stronger”, it is not up to Nietzsche, or us, todecide whether this aphorism can apply to only the good intentioned – and not the evilminds.Then we have Nietzsche’s other quote – his not so famous one, a quote that was later revived by Viktor Frankl’s book “Man’s search for Meaning”:“He who has a strong enough why can conquer almost any how”Frankl, a Concentration Camp Victim and a Holocaust Survivor lived to tell the world,how having a strong enough why, makes all the difference in one’s life. The inner strength he so strongly craved to survive each passing day, to bear the indescribablesuffering of concentration camp prisoners, was accessed through meaning – personalmeaning. His personal meaning was imagining himself in years to come, giving a lectureon psychology, on his breakthrough research, and on advancing his career. His meaningwas also defined by his personal life, which was more than anything, imagining his wifeafter the War would be over, embracing her and living the rest of his days with her. “Itwould not matter”, he would say, if his wife…was alive or not. It was the sheer thoughtof going back to her – holding on to the possibility that he would meet up with her, and