We cannot, after all, judge a biography by its length, by the number of pages in it; we must judge by the richness of the contents…Sometimes the ‘unfinisheds’ are among the most beautiful symphonies.
VIKTOR E. FRANKLThe 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.
More Viktor E. Frankl Quotes
-
-
What is demanded of man is not, as some existential philosophers teach, to endure the meaninglessness of life, but rather to bear his incapacity to grasp its unconditional meaningfulness in rational terms.
VIKTOR E. FRANKL -
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.
VIKTOR E. FRANKL -
Man is capable of changing the world for the better if possible, and of changing himself for the better if necessary.
VIKTOR E. FRANKL -
What you have experienced, no power on earth can take from you.
VIKTOR E. FRANKL -
Each of us carries a unique spark of the divine, and each of us is also an inseparable part of the web of life.
VIKTOR E. FRANKL -
Happiness must ensue. It cannot be pursued
VIKTOR E. FRANKL -
Life requires of man spiritual elasticity, so that he may temper his efforts to the chances that are offered.
VIKTOR E. FRANKL -
This is the core of the human spirit … If we can find something to live for – if we can find some meaning to put at the center of our lives – even the worst kind of suffering becomes bearable.
VIKTOR E. FRANKL -
Life is never made unbearable by circumstances, but only by lack of meaning and purpose.
VIKTOR E. FRANKL -
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.
VIKTOR E. FRANKL -
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.
VIKTOR E. FRANKL -
Once an individual’s search for meaning is successful, it not only renders him happy but also gives him the capability to cope with suffering
VIKTOR E. FRANKL -
We can discover this meaning in life in three different ways: 1. by doing a deed; 2. by experiencing a value; and 3. by suffering.
VIKTOR E. FRANKL -
The one thing you can’t take away from me is the way I choose to respond to what you do to me.
VIKTOR E. FRANKL -
Each man is questioned by life; and he can only answer to life by answering for his own life; to life he can only respond by being responsible.
VIKTOR E. FRANKL -
Man’s search for meaning is the chief motivation of his life.
VIKTOR E. FRANKL -
I do the unpleasant tasks before I do the pleasant ones.
VIKTOR E. FRANKL -
There are two races of men in this world but only these two: the race of the decent man and the race of the indecent man.
VIKTOR E. FRANKL -
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.”
VIKTOR E. FRANKL -
The last freedom is choosing your attitude.
VIKTOR E. FRANKL -
It is always important to have something yet to do in life.
VIKTOR E. FRANKL -
What man actually needs is not a tensionless state but rather the striving and struggling for some goal worthy of him. What he needs is not the discharge of tension at any cost, but the call of a potential meaning waiting to be fulfilled by him.
VIKTOR E. FRANKL -
You can take away my wife, you can take away my children, you can strip me of my clothes and my freedom, but there is one thing no person can ever take away from me – and that is my freedom to choose how I will react to what happens to me!
VIKTOR E. FRANKL -
At any moment, man must decide, for better or for worse, what will be the monument of his existence.
VIKTOR E. FRANKL -
It is the pursuit of happiness that thwarts happiness.
VIKTOR E. FRANKL -
Just as a small fire is extinguished by the storm whereas a large fire is enhanced by it – likewise a weak faith is weakened by predicament and catastrophes whereas a strong faith is strengthened by them.
VIKTOR E. FRANKL