Man's Search for Meaning

Man's Search for Meaning by Viktor E. Frankl

"It is a peculiarity of a man that he can only live by looking to the future...And this is his salvation in the most difficult moments of his existence..."

"it did not really matter what we expected from life, but rather what life expected from us.  We needed to stop asking about the meaning of life...Life ultimately means taking the responsibility to find the right answer to its problems and to fulfill the tasks which it constantly sets for each individual.  These tasks, and therefore the meaning of life, differ from man to man, and from moment to moment...They form man's destiny, which is different and unique for each individual.  No man and no destiny can be compared with any other man or any other destiny.  No situation repeats itself, and each situation calls for a different response.  Sometimes the situation in which a man finds himself may require him to shape his own fate by action."

"Ultimately, man should not ask what the meaning of his life is, but rather he must recognize that it is he who is asked.  In a word, 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."

"Live as if you were living alredy for the second time and as if you had acted the first time as wrongly as you are about to act now!"

"...being human always points, and is directed to something or someone, other than oneself--be it a meaning to fulfill or another human being to encounter.  The more one forgets himself--by giving himself to a cause to serve or another person to love--the more human he is and the more he actualizes himself."

"According to logotherapy, we can discover this meaning in life in three different ways: (1) by creating a work or doing a deed;  (2) by experiencing something or encountering something or encountering someone; (3) by the attitude we take toward unavoidable suffering."

"We must never forget that we may also find meaning in life even when confronted with a hopeless situation, when facing a fat that cannot be changed.  For what then matters is to bear witness to the uniquely human potential at its best which is to transform a personal tragedy into a triumph, to turn one's predicament into a human achievement.  When we are no longer able to change a situation--just think of an incurable disease such as inoperable cancer--we are challenged to change ourselves."

"This uniqueness and singleness which distinguishes each individual and gives a meaning to his existence has a bearing on creative work as much as it does on human love. When the impossibility of replacing a person is realized, it allows the responsibility which a man has for his existence and its continuance to appear in all its magnitude. 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.'"