I have just returned from a six-day writing retirement in the countryside, during which I put together the structure for the Nietzsche self-help book I am writing. For this, I rented a tiny lodge near the village of Glynde in the Sussex Downs, where I could spend time alone, focusing on this project without distraction or disturbance. The accommodation was small but perfectly equipped for a brief period of solitary living – a desk, a chair, a bed, a toilet and a shower. There

Most people are familiar with this most famous aphorism of Friedrich Nietzsche’s: ‘What doesn’t kill me makes me stronger.’ There’s a common criticism of this idea – it’s that it’s clearly wrong. Nietzsche seems to be suggesting that experiences of adversity or suffering toughen us up. But, people object, what about irreversible paralysis? Or losing a child? Or conditions like chronic depression? Do these make a person stronger? It seems highly improbable. In these cases, qui