“No man should judge unless he asks himself in absolute honesty whether in a similar situation he might not have done the same.”

Everyone has his own specific vocation or mission in life; everyone must carry out a concrete assignment that demands fulfillment.

Success, like happiness, is the unexpected side effect of one’s personal dedication to a cause greater than oneself.

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.

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.

A man’s concern, even his despair, over the worthwhileness of life is an existential distress but by no means a mental disease.

Either belief in God is unconditional or it is no belief at all.

Our greatest human freedom is that, despite whatever our physical situation is in life, we are always free to choose our thoughts.

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.

It isn’t the past which holds us back, it’s the future; and how we undermine it, today.

It is not freedom from conditions, but it is freedom to take a stand toward the conditions.

Pain is only bearable if we know it will end, not if we deny it exists.

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.

There was no need to be ashamed of tears, for tears bore witness that a man had the greatest of courage, the courage to suffer.

Man does not simply exist but always decides what his existence will be, what he will become the next moment. By the same token, every human being has the freedom to change at any instant.

The quest for meaning is the key to mental health and human flourishing

God is the partner of your most intimate soliloquies.

I find myself absolutely fulfilled when I have written a poem.

I find myself absolutely fulfilled when I have written a poem.

Institutionalized rejection of difference is an absolute necessity in a profit economy which needs outsiders as surplus people.

Reality is an absolute, existence is an absolute, a speck of dust is an absolute and so is a human life.

Vision creates faith and faith creates willpower. With faith there is no anxiety and no doubt – just absolute confidence in yourself.

I don’t think you should be too absolutist about what you play and what you don’t play.

Unless you have been to boarding-school when you are very young, it is absolutely impossible to appreciate the delights of living at home.

A person is a fool to become a writer. His only compensation is absolute freedom. He has no master except his own soul, and that, I am sure, is why he does it