![Hard Times Create Strong Men paintings of historical events Roman Empire "HARD TIMES CREATE STRONG MEN STRONG MEN CREATE GOOD TIMES"](https://i.kym-cdn.com/entries/icons/mobile/000/035/283/cover11.jpg)
Hard Times Create Strong Men
About
Hard Times Create Strong Men, Strong Men Create Good Times, Good Times Create Weak Men, Weak Men Create Hard Times refers to a catchphrase that attempts to describe the cycle of prosperity and regression in society. Starting in 2016, the phrase has appeared in multiple image macros and has later become a subject of parodies and ironic use.
Origin
While the quote is generally attributed to Those Who Remain: A Postapocalyptic Novel, a book by G. Michael Hopf published in December 2016,[4] the earliest macros containing the phrase were spread online starting as early as August 2016. These include a collection of four paintings depicting various periods of Roman Empire, and a photograph of several armed Chechen fighters, with an August 15th, 2016, post on 9GAG[1] being the earliest viral image macro containing the caption (shown below, left).
![Hard Times Create Strong Men (Chechen Fighters) Hard times create strong men. Strong men create good times. Good times create weak men. Weak men create hard times. VIA 9GAG.COM](https://i.kym-cdn.com/photos/images/newsfeed/001/898/443/36d.jpg)
![Hard Times Create Strong Men (Roman Empire) HARD TIMES CREATE STRONG MEN WING STRONG MEN CREATE GOOD TIMES GOOD TIMES CREA TE WEAK MEN WEAK MEN CREATE HARD TIMES](https://i.kym-cdn.com/photos/images/newsfeed/001/898/444/8d1.jpg)
Spread
Both images received viral spread online in 2016 and 2017, with multiple reposts on Facebook, iFunny, 4chan and other sites. For example, a September 25th, 2016, reupload of the first image to Imgur[2] received over 55,900 views in four years. On September 7th, 2017, Twitter[3] user @MarkACollett reposted the second image, gaining over 110 retweets and 190 likes.
Starting in early 2017, following the viral spread of the original macros, a Political Compass meme based on it received viral spread online (shown below).
![Hard Times Create Strong Men Political Compass Authoritarian Hard Strong Times Men Left Right Weak Good Men Times Libertarian](https://i.kym-cdn.com/photos/images/newsfeed/001/898/454/f2d.jpg)
In the following years, the caption has been repurposed for parodies and ironic use (examples shown below).
![Hard Times Create Chads HARD TIMES CREATE CHADS CHADS CREATE GOOD TIMES GOOD TIMES CREATE SIMPS SIMPS CREATE HARD TIMES](https://i.kym-cdn.com/photos/images/newsfeed/001/898/457/64e.jpg)
![Hard Times Create Real N----- 316 HARD TIMES CREATE Real N----- Real N----- CREATE GOOD TIMES GOOD TIMES CREA TE Bitch-ass N----- Bitch-ass N----- CREATE HARD TIMES](https://a.kym-cdn.com/assets/blank-b3f96f160b75b1b49b426754ba188fe8.gif)
![The cycle of monke's life OOOOOO AAAAA Strong monke create many bananas Many bananas create weak monke Few bananas create strong monke Weak monke create few bananas](https://i.kym-cdn.com/photos/images/newsfeed/001/898/458/829.jpg)
Search Interest
External References
[1] 9GAG β This is accurate
[2] Imgur β Strong Man
[3] Twitter β @MarkACollett
[4] Goodreads β "Those Who Remain ":https://www.goodreads.com/work/quotes/53173998-those-who-remain
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Top Comments
TheMysteriousGray
Sep 22, 2020 at 12:48PM EDT
iotacom
Sep 23, 2020 at 06:11PM EDT