Difficulties break some men but make others.

The line contrasts two possible human responses to adversity: collapse (“break”) or growth (“make”). It implies that hardship is not determinative on its own; character, support, purpose, and choices shape whether suffering becomes destructive or formative. Read as a moral and psychological observation, it frames resilience as an active process—pressure can fracture what is brittle, but it can also forge strength, discipline, and clarity in those able to endure. Attributed to Mandela, it is often taken to reflect the broader anti-apartheid experience: oppression tests individuals and communities, sometimes crushing them, sometimes hardening resolve and deepening commitment to justice.