Tao Te Ching
Man's Search for Meaning
A book that spotlights the heart of human concern and question, Man's Search for Meaning quickly sold millions of copies, was translated into 24 languages, and became one of the world’s most influential books. Not based on theory but on the author’s time in 4 Nazi concentration camps, it vividly demonstrates what it describes: how we can find the meaningfulness of life in even the most painfully horrible conditions and transform external evil into internal goodness. It also chronicles the impact of choosing optimism and how imagining a brighter future can increase longevity and make the present more productive. On the other side of this equation, it pictures the devastating impact of losing hope, the mistake of letting bitterness and disillusionment take root. In an—under the circumstances—remarkable frame of mind, Frankl refuses the easy conceptualizations of good and bad, remarking how there were “decent” guards and “indecent” prisoners.
Themes
Quotes from Man's Search for Meaning
“Everything can be taken from a man but one thing: the last of the human freedoms—to choose one’s attitude in any given set of circumstances, to choose one’s own way.”
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“Happiness must happen, it 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”
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“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.”
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“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.”
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“Live as if you were living already for the second time and as if you had acted the first time as wrongly as you are about to act now.”
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“Those who have a 'why' to live, can bear with almost any 'how'.”
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“Ultimately, man should not ask what the meaning of his life is, but rather 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.”
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“We watched and witnessed some of our comrades behave like swine while others behaved like saints… which one is actualized depends on decisions but not on conditions.”
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“When we are no longer able to change a situation, we are challenged to change ourselves.”
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