In the "woes unite foes" rhyming example, it's definitely using the same part of my brain involved with processing poetic license. I disagree with the sentence, but I can feel my brain working to frame it charitably.
OT: You disagree that challenging circumstances unite people who would otherwise be uncharitable to one another?
In times of hardship would you work with someone you don't get on with so you could both survive? Note that the made up aphorism does not include a term such as "always". A less charitable version would be "the enemy of my enemy is my friend" (an example of the aphorism is which is well known).
Just curious as I felt this was a sort of given about innate human behaviour.
I guess if they're scared they might work together. But by woes it doesn't necessarily mean common enemy. (This is what I meant by a charitable interpretation.) If I'm having a bad day, I'm less likely to be nice to an enemy.
