Man’s search for meaning is the chief motivation of his life.
VIKTOR E. FRANKLAt any moment, man must decide, for better or for worse, what will be the monument of his existence.
More Viktor E. Frankl Quotes
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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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Being tolerant does not mean that I share another one’s belief. But it does mean that I acknowledge another one’s right to believe, and obey, his own conscience.
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Fundamentally, therefore, any man can, even under such circumstances, decide what shall become of him-mentally and spiritually. He may retain his human dignity even in a concentration camp.
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Now, it is my contention that the deneuroticization of humanity requires a rehumanization of psychotherapy.
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Our main motivation for living is our will to find meaning in life.
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Most important, however, is the third avenue to meaning in life: even the helpless victim of a hopeless situation, facing a fate he cannot change, may rise above himself, may grow beyond himself, and by so doing change himself. He may turn a personal tragedy into a triumph.
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Love goes very far beyond the physical person of the beloved.
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Woe to him who saw no more sense in his life, no aim, no purpose, and therefore no point in carrying on.
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If we take a man as he is, we make him worse, but if we take man as he should be we make him capable of becoming what he can be.
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Man’s last freedom is his freedom to choose how he will react in any given situation
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Thus, human existence-at least as long as it has not been neurotically distorted-is always directed to something, or someone, other than itself, be it a meaning to fulfill or another human being to encounter lovingly.
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I do not forget any good deed done to me & I do not carry a grudge for a bad one.
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The incurable sufferer is given very little opportunity to be proud of his suffering and to consider it ennobling rather than degrading” so that “he is not only unhappy, but also ashamed of being unhappy.
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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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Despair is suffering without meaning.
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The attempt to develop a sense of humor and to see things in a humorous light is some kind of a trick learned while mastering the art of living.
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The last freedom is choosing your attitude.
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Man is not fully conditioned and determined but rather determines himself whether he gives in to conditions or stands up to them.
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Everywhere man is confronted with fate , with a chance of achieving something through his own suffering.
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If there is meaning in life at all, then there must be meaning in suffering.
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No man should judge unless he asks himself in absolute honesty whether in a similar situation he might not have done the same.
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Happiness cannot be attained by wanting to be happy – it must come as the unintended consequence of working for a goal greater than oneself.
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It is not freedom from conditions, but it is freedom to take a stand toward the conditions.
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It is here that we encounter the central theme of existentialism: to live is to suffer, to survive is to find meaning in the suffering.
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The one thing you can’t take away from me is the way I choose to respond to what you do to me. The last of one’s freedoms is to choose ones attitude in any given circumstance.
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Our greatest human freedom is that, despite whatever our physical situation is in life, WE ARE ALWAYS FREE TO CHOOSE OUR THOUGHTS!
VIKTOR E. FRANKL