Nietzsche and Overcoming Hardship

Reflections on Adversity and Happiness

The philosophy of Friedrich Nietzsche emphasizes the importance of overcoming hardship as the means of achieving the good life. Nietzsche was skeptical about whether a life of ease and comfort could generate true human happiness. For Nietzsche, the struggle against adversity was a key component of what it means to be human. A life without adversity is a life without struggle; a life without struggle is a life without passion and purpose. Nietzsche considered suffering an essential component of developing human character and cultivating the human spirit. A human being comes into their own through self-overcoming or facing the challenges that accompany adversity and suffering during one’s personal and social life (Botton, 2012). A life that does not involve the process of facing adversity and confronting challenges that must be overcome is a life that leads to the malaise of the individual’s character and spirit in a way that ultimately generates unhappiness.