Recovery phrases I despise

“That which doesn’t kill you will make you stronger.”

How do you know in advance whether it falls into one camp or another?

“Life is suffering.”

If you’re a good Buddhist, life CAN’T be suffering, because you’re supposed to be in a state of satori. Rather, if the Buddha himself had actually obtained Buddhahood, he would have said, “Life appears to be suffering.”

That which doesn’t destroy you will make you stronger?

Frankly, I’ve always thought this was one of the stupidest — and most egotistical — recovery slogans I’ve ever heard. Certainly the worse that’s not AA-conference-approved.

Why stupid? Well, how can I know the difference between what “develops” me and what destroys me until after I’m destroyed?

Why egotistical? It sounds like some Type A male machismo, along the line of one George W. Bush’s “bring them on.”