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Man's Search For Meaning, Gift Edition

Book by Viktor E. Frankl · 49 quotes · Search For Meaning, Mans Search For Meaning, Men

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Man's Search For Meaning, Gift Edition Quotes

“Everything can be taken from a man but one thing: the last of human freedoms - to choose one's attitude in any given set of circumstances, to choose one's own way.”

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“Freedom is in danger of degenerating into mere arbitrariness unless it is lived in terms of responsibleness. That is why I recommend that the Statue of Liberty on the East Coast be supplemented by a Statue of Responsibility on the West Coast.”

InspirationFaithTermResponsibilityLibertyDangerMereWestEastChristian InspirationalCoastStatuesSearch For MeaningWest CoastEast CoastMans Search For MeaningStatue Of Liberty
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“It did not really matter what we expected from life, but rather what life expected from us. We needed to stop asking about the meaning of life, and instead to think of ourselves as those who were being questioned by life—daily and hourly. Our answer must consist, not in talk and meditation, but in right action and in right conduct. Life ultimately means taking the responsibility to find the right answer to its problems and to fulfill the tasks which it constantly sets for each individual.”

ThinkingLifeMeanMatterProblemActionIndividualAnswersResponsibilityMeditationNeededTasksAskingIndividualityExpectedMeaning Of LifeDaily LifeSearch For MeaningRight AnswersRight ActionMans Search For MeaningRight Conduct
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“We who lived in concentration camps can remember the men who walked through the huts comforting others, giving away their last piece of bread. They may have been few in number, but they offer sufficient proof that everything can be taken from a man but one thing: the last of the human freedoms -- to choose one's attitude in any given set of circumstances, to choose one's own way.”

MenWayLifeGivingHumansMayHas BeensLastsRememberGivenPeaceLeadershipFreedomNumbersAttitudeCompassionTakenPiecesOne ThingPositiveCircumstancesOffersProofBreadPositive AttitudeSufficientConcentrationCampsGenocideHolocaustComfortingSearch For MeaningHuman FreedomConcentration CampHutsWinning AttitudeFreedom To ChooseKeep A Positive AttitudeMans Search For MeaningAttitude Is EverythingGreat Positive AttitudeAttitudes And SuccessPositive Attitude And SuccessHuman CompassionHave A Great DayCan Do AttitudeStimulus And ResponseNeurologists
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“For what then matters is to bear witness to the uniquely human potential at its best, which is to transform a personal tragedy into a triumph, to turn one’s predicament into a human achievement.”

HumansMatterTurnsBearsAchievementTragedyWitnessTriumphSearch For MeaningHuman PotentialPredicamentsMans Search For MeaningIncurable DiseaseHopeless SituationsPersonal Tragedy
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“For the first time in my life I saw the truth as it is set into song by so many poets, proclaimed as the final wisdom by so many thinkers. The truth - that Love is the ultimate and highest goal to which man can aspire. Then I grasped the meaning of the greatest secret that human poetry and human thought and belief have to impart: The salvation of man is through love and in love.”

MenLifeFirstsHumansSongBeliefGoalChangeLove IsSecretSawsPoetHighestFirst TimeUltimateSalvationFinalsThinkerAspireImpartSearch For MeaningHuman ThoughtMans Search For Meaning
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“Our generation is realistic, for we have come to know man as he really is. After all, man is that being who invented the gas chambers of Auschwitz; however, he is also that being who entered those gas chambers upright, with the Lord's Prayer or the Shema Yisrael on his lips.”

KnowsMenPrayerLordGenerationsLipsGasRealisticChamberOur GenerationSearch For MeaningAuschwitzMans Search For MeaningGas Chambers
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“To draw an analogy: a man's suffering is similar to the behavior of a gas. If a certain quantity of gas is pumped into an empty chamber, it will fill the chamber completely and evenly, no matter how big the chamber. Thus suffering completely fills the human soul and conscious mind, no matter whether the suffering is great or little. Therefore the "size" of human suffering is absolutely relative.”

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“A man who becomes conscious of the responsibility he bears toward a human being who affectionately waits for him, or to an unfinished work, will never be able to throw away his life. He knows the "why" for his existence, and will be able to bear almost any "how."”

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“When a man finds that it is his destiny to suffer, he will have to accept his suffering as his task. . . . He will have to acknowledge the fact that even in suffering he is unique and alone in the universe. No one can relieve him of his suffering or suffer in his place. His unique opportunity lies in the way in which he bears his burden.”

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“Love is the only way to grasp another human being in the innermost core of his personality. No one can become fully aware of the very essence of another human being unless he loves him. By his love he is enabled to see the essential traits and features.”

WayLoveHumansHuman BeingsLove IsPersonalityEssentialsEssenceCoreFeaturesTraitsHis LoveSearch For MeaningMans Search For Meaning
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“What will it matter to him if he notices that he is growing old? Has he any reason to envy the young people whom he sees, or wax nostalgic over his own lost youth? What reasons has he to envy a young person? For the possibilities that a young person has, the future which is in store for him? "No, thank you," he will think. "Instead of possibilities, I have realities in my past, not only the reality of work done and love loved, but of sufferings bravely suffered. These sufferings are even the things of which I am most proud, though these things are things that cannot inspire envy."”

PeopleIfsThinkingPersonsMatterReasonDoneRealityPastYoungSufferingLostGrowingPossibilityYouthInspireProudAnd LoveEnvyStoresGrowing OldMy PastNostalgicWork DoneSearch For MeaningMans Search For MeaningLost Youth
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“I understood how a man who has nothing left in this world may still know bliss, be it only for a brief moment, in the contemplation of his beloved. In a position of utter desolation, when a man cannot express himself in positive action, when his only achievement may consist in enduring his sufferings in the right way - an honorable way - in such a position man can, through loving contemplation of the image he carries of his beloved, achieve fulfillment.”

KnowsMenWorldWayMayStillsMomentsActionSufferingLeftUnderstandingAchievePositionThis WorldAchievementUnderstoodEndureFulfillmentBelovedBlissContemplationCarrieHonorableRight WayDesolationSearch For MeaningMans Search For MeaningBrief Moments
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“Man's search for meaning is the primary motivation in his life and not a "secondary rationalization" of instinctual drives. This meaning is unique and specific in that it must and can be fulfilled by him alone; only then does it achieve a significance which will satisfy his own will to meaning.”

MenDoePurposeMotivationAchieveUniquePrimariesSignificanceFulfilledSearch For MeaningMans Search For Meaning
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“I want you to listen to what your conscience commands you to do and go on to carry it out to the best of your knowledge. Then you will live to see that in the long run- in the long run, I say! - success will follow you precisely because you had forgotten to think of it.”

ThinkingWantLongRunningGoes OnConscienceForgottenCommandLong RunsI Want YouSearch For MeaningMans Search For MeaningAdmonish
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