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Life requires of man spiritual elasticity, so that he may temper his efforts to the chances that are offered.

Viktor E. Frankl

Happiness cannot be attained by wanting to be happy – it must come as the unintended consequence of working for a goal greater than oneself.
VIKTOR E. FRANKL

Consequences Goal Psychology Unintended
A man who could not see the end of his”provisional existence” was not able to aim at an ultimate goal in life.
VIKTOR E. FRANKL

Able Goal Men
Happiness must ensue. It cannot be pursued
VIKTOR E. FRANKL

Ensues Happiness Pursued
A human being is not one thing among others; things determine each other, but man is ultimately self-determining. What he becomes-within the limits of endowment and environment-he has made out of himself.
VIKTOR E. FRANKL

Limits Men Self Ultimately
…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.
VIKTOR E. FRANKL

Answers Meditation Thinking
There are only two races, the decent and the indecent.
VIKTOR E. FRANKL

Decent Race Two
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

Giving Successful Suffering
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.
VIKTOR E. FRANKL

Causes Dedication Happiness
Man is not fully conditioned and determined but rather determines himself whether he gives in to conditions or stands up to them.
VIKTOR E. FRANKL

Determined Giving Men
Sleep [is like] a dove which has landed near one’s hand and stays there as long as one does not pay any attention to it.
VIKTOR E. FRANKL

Hands Long Sleep
One can choose one’s attitude in any given set of circumstances.
VIKTOR E. FRANKL

Attitude Freedom Positive Thinking
One should not search for an abstract meaning of life … Life can be made meaningful in a threefold way: first, through what we give to life … second, by what we take from the world … third, through the stand we take toward a fate we no longer can change.
VIKTOR E. FRANKL

Fate Giving Meaningful
Having been is also a kind of being, and perhaps the surest kind.
VIKTOR E. FRANKL

Being Kind Perhaps Surest
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.
VIKTOR E. FRANKL

Dignity May Men Mentality Spiritual
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.
VIKTOR E. FRANKL

Long Running Thinking
The quest for meaning is the key to mental health and human flourishing
VIKTOR E. FRANKL

Keys Mental Health Quests

Life requires of man spiritual elasticity, so that he may temper his efforts to the chances that are offered.

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Life requires of man spiritual elasticity, so that he may temper his efforts to the chances that are offered.

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