Home / Quotes / Quote by Viktor E. Frankl

Quote by Viktor E. Frankl

“Despair is suffering without meaning.”

Quote by Viktor E. Frankl

Author

Viktor E. Frankl

Viktor E. Frankl was a renowned neurologist and psychologist, born on March 26, 1905, and died on September 2, 1997. He was one of the founders of existential psychology and is known for his experiences in Nazi concentration camps and his book 'Man's Search for Meaning'. more

You May Also Like

“It is absolutely impossible for a subject to see or have insight into something while leaving itself out of the picture, so impossible that knowing and being are the most opposite of all spheres.”

Knowing Impossible Subjects Opposites Leaving Insight Spheres Existential

Book:Philosophy in the Tragic Age of the Greeks

Source: Philosophy in the Tragic Age of the Greeks

“Less and less is life animated through personal discovery, intimacy with others, or self-reflection. While life has become more manageable for many people, it has become commensurately less engaged.”

People Self Reflection Discovery Intimacy Engaged Existential Self Reflection Animated Manageable

Author:Kirk J. Schneider

“The greatest cause of evil included all human motives in one giant paradox. Good and bad were so inextricably mixed that we couldn't make them out; bad seemed to lead to good, and good motives led to bad. The paradox is that evil comes from man's urge to heroic victory over evil.”

Men Humans Evil Causes Victory Motive Giants Urges Paradox Heroic Existential Good And Bad

Author:Ernest Becker

“There is no doubt that healthy-mindedness is inadequate as a philosophical doctrine, because the evil facts which it refuses positively to account for are a genuine portion of reality; and they may after all be the best key to life's significance, and possibly the only openers of our eyes to the deepest levels of truth.”

May Facts Reality Eye Evil Levels Doubt Keys Healthy Accounts Philosophical Refuse Genuine Doctrine No Doubt Being The Best Significance Portions Existential Positively Inadequate

Book:The William James Reader

Source: The William James Reader

“Therefore, it is we who are responsible for much of the evil in the world; and we are each morally required to accept rather than project that ponderous responsibility-lest we prefer instead to wallow in a perennial state of powerless, frustrated, furious, victimhood. For what one possesses the power to bring about, one has also the power to limit, Mitigate, counteract, or transmute.”

World States Evil Responsibility Accepting Limits Projects Responsible Frustrated Existential Powerless Furious Victimhood

Book:Anger, Madness, and the Daimonic: The Psychological Genesis of Violence, Evil, and Creativity

Source: Anger, Madness, and the Daimonic: The Psychological Genesis of Violence, Evil, and Creativity

“The citizens of a city are not guilty of the crimes committed in their city; but they are guilty as participants in the destiny of [humanity] as a whole and in the destiny of their city in particular; for their acts in which freedom was united with destiny have contributed to the destiny in which they participate. They are guilty, not of committing the crimes of which their group is accused, but of contributing to the destiny in which these crimes happened.”

Whole Humanity United Cities Destiny Happened Groups Crime Particular Citizens Committed Guilty Existential Accused Participants Contributing Not Guilty

Author:Paul Tillich

“You were once wild here. Don't let them tame you.”

Life Inspirational Sensual Simple Life

Author:Isadora Duncan

“In the beginning, we create the enemy. Before the weapon comes the image. We think others to death and then invent the battle-axe or ballistic missiles with which to actually kill them. Propaganda precedes technology.”

Thinking Enemy Technology Battle Weapons Propaganda Existential Missiles

Author:Sam Keen

“Man's natural and inevitable urge to deny mortality and achieve a heroic self-image are the root causes of human evil.”

Men Humans Self Evil Causes Natural Achieve Roots Deny Inevitable Urges Mortality Heroic Existential Root Cause

Book:Escape from Evil

Source: Escape from Evil

“I would say that our patients never really despair because of any suffering in itself! Instead, their despair stems in each instance from a doubt as to whether suffering is meaningful. Man is ready and willing to shoulder any suffering as soon and as long as he can see a meaning in it.”

Men Long Suffering Doubt Willing Ready Despair Patient Meaningful Shoulders Instance Existential Stem

Author:Viktor E. Frankl