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Viktor E. Frankl

Viktor E. Frankl Quotes

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Famous Viktor E. Frankl Quotes

“The way in which a man accepts his fate and all the suffering it entails, the way in which he takes up his cross, gives him ample opportunity — even under the most difficult circumstances — to add a deeper meaning to his life. It may remain brave, dignified and unselfish. Or in the bitter fight for self preservation he may forget his human dignity and become no more than an animal”

MenWayGivingHumansMaySelfSufferingFightingOpportunityDifficultForgetAnimalAcceptingFateCircumstancesDignityCrossesAddBraveDeeperBitterPreservationHuman DignitySelf PreservationUnselfishSearch For MeaningMans Search For MeaningDeeper MeaningDifficult Circumstances
Book:Man's Search for Meaning
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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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Book:Man's Search For Meaning, Gift Edition
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“To be sure, man's search for meaning may arouse inner tension rather than inner equilibrium. However, precisely such tension is an indispensable prerequisite of mental health. There is nothing in the world, I venture to say, that would so effectively help one to survive even the worst conditions as the knowledge that there is a meaning in one's life. There is much wisdom in the words of Nietzsche: "He who has a why to live for can bear almost any how”

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Book:Man's Search for Meaning
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“I shall never forget how I was roused one night by the groans of a fellow prisoner, who threw himself about in his sleep, obviously having a horrible nightmare. Since I had always been especially sorry for people who suffered from fearful dreams or deliria, I wanted to wake the poor man. Suddenly I drew back the hand which was ready to shake him, frightened at the thing I was about to do. At that moment I became intensely conscious of the fact that no dream, no matter how horrible, could be as bad as the reality of the camp which surrounded us, and to which I was about to recall him.”

PeopleMenMatterMomentsFactsDreamHandsRealityWantedNightSleepForgetPoorReadyConsciousFellowsSorryHorribleShakesNightmareThat MomentNever ForgetFrightenedPrisonerCampsFearfulRecallsOne NightPoor ManSearch For MeaningDelirium
Book:Man's Search For Meaning, Gift Edition
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“One evening, when we were already resting on the floor of our hut, dead tired, soup bowls in hand, a fellow prisoner rushed in and asked us to run out to the assembly grounds and see the wonderful sunset. Standing outside we saw sinister clouds glowing in the west and the whole sky alive with clouds of ever-changing shapes and colors, from steel blue to blood red. The desolate grey mud huts provided a sharp contrast, while the puddles on the muddy ground reflected the glowing sky. Then, after minutes of moving silence, one prisoner said to another, "How beautiful the world could be.”

WorldSaidWholeHandsRunningBeautifulMovingSilenceSawsAliveWonderfulBloodSkyMinutesColorShapesRedStandingBlueFellowsTiredWestCloudsEveningSunsetPrisonerContrastBowlsSteelSoupGreyMudAssemblyGlowingSinisterMuddySearch For MeaningDesolateHutsPuddles
Book:Man's Search For Meaning, Gift Edition
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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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Book:Man's Search For Meaning, Gift Edition
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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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Book:Man's Search For Meaning, Gift Edition
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“If architects want to strengthen a decrepit arch, they increase the load which is laid upon it, for thereby the parts are joined more firmly together. So if therapists wish to foster their patients' mental health, they should not be afraid to increase that load through a reorientation toward the meaning of one's life.”

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Author:Viktor E. Frankl
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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.”

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Book:Man's Search For Meaning, Gift Edition
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“For success, like happiness, cannot be pursued; it must ensue, and it only does so as the unintended side-effect of one's personal dedication to a cause greater than oneself or as the by-product of one's surrender to a person other than oneself.”

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Book:Man's 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
Book:Man's Search For Meaning, Gift Edition
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“We must never forget that we may also find meaning in life even when confronted with a hopeless situation, when facing a fate that cannot be changed. 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. When we are no longer able to change a situation-just think of an incurable disease such as inoperable cancer-we are challenged to change ourselves.”

ThinkingHumansMayMatterAbleTurnsForgetSituationFateChangedBearsDiseaseAchievementTragedyCancerWitnessTriumphHopelessNever ForgetFind MeSearch For MeaningHuman PotentialMeaning LifePredicamentsMans Search For MeaningIncurable DiseaseHopeless SituationsPersonal Tragedy
Book:Man's Search for Meaning: A Young Adult Edition
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“. . . nothing could touch the strength of my love, and the thoughts of my beloved. Had I known then that my wife was dead, I think that I still would have given myself, undisturbed by that knowledge, to the contemplation of that image, and that my mental conversation with her would have been just as vivid and just as satisfying. "Set me like a seal upon thy heart, love is as strong as death."”

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Book:Man's Search For Meaning, Gift Edition
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“There is also purpose in life which is almost barren of both creation and enjoyment and which admits of but one possibility of high moral behavior: namely, in man's attitude to his existence, an existence restricted by external forces.”

MenLifePurposeForceExistenceAttitudeMoralCreationPossibilityBehaviorEnjoymentPurpose Of LifeBarrenSearch For MeaningMans Search For MeaningExternal ForcesMoral Behavior
Book:Man's Search for Meaning
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“Those who know how close the connection is between the state of mind of a man-his courage and hope, or lack of them-and the state of immunity of his body will understand that the sudden loss of hope and courage can have a deadly effect. The ultimate cause of my friend's death was that the expected liberation did not come and he was severely disappointed.”

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Book:Man's Search For Meaning, Gift Edition
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“No one can become fully aware of the very essence of another human being until he loves him. By his love he is enabled to see the essential traits and features in the beloved person; and even more, he sees that which is potential in him, which is not yet actualized. Furthermore, by his love, the loving person enables the beloved person to actualize these potentialities. By making him aware of what he can be and what he should become, he makes these potentialities come true.”

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Author:Viktor E. Frankl
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“In a last violent protest against the hopelessness of imminent death, I sensed my spirit piercing through the enveloping gloom. I felt it transcend that hopeless, meaningless world, and from somewhere I heard a victorious "Yes" in answer to my question of the existence of an ultimate purpose. At that moment a light was lit in a distant farmhouse, which stood on the horizon as if painted there, in the midst of the miserable gray of a dawning morning in Bavaria. "Et lux in tenebris lucet"-and the light shineth in the darkness.”

IfsWorldMomentsLightLastsSpiritPurposeFeltAnswersExistenceMorningDarknessHeardUltimateViolentMiserableProtestMidstHopelessThat MomentHorizonGrayMeaninglessHopelessnessLitGloomSearch For MeaningPiercingsImminent Death
Book:Man's Search For Meaning, Gift Edition
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