A man’s search for meaning — Quotes
Recently, I read the book called A man’s search for meaning written by Viktor E. Frankl. It is recommended all over the internet and, now, I understand why.
What is very interesting about this book is the fact that Mr. Frankl is an Auschwitz concentration camp survivor as well as a psychiatrist. Hence, he is one of the very few people in the world who can understand what happened in the minds of the concentration camp survivors.
The book is divided into two parts. In the first one, he talks about his experiences in a concentration camp. In the second one, he talks about Logotherapy. Logotherapy is a theory developed by the author and it is the pursuit of the meaning of one’s life.
I feel as though there is a lot of tools to help people go through their struggles in this book and I cannot recommend it enough.
“He who has a Why to live for can bear almost any how” — Nietzsche
This sentence is literally on the first page of the book. I was startled when I read that line: I wasn’t ready for that.
A person who finds meaning in their life can go through any obstacle in their paths. For Frankl, it was his desire to give lectures on what he experienced in the concentration camps that made him capable of going through this disgusting time.
If you have a goal of making a company, if you desire it with all your will, you are going to be able to go through all the obstacles and be successful.
“Forces beyond your control can take away everything you possess except one thing, your freedom to choose how you will respond to the situation.”
“I broke my neck, it didn’t break me”
Whether you have a missing limb, a disability, you are experiencing a difficult situation, you always have the freedom to choose how you will respond to the situation.
You have two options: you keep crying or you keep your head up and you move forward.
“There is only one thing that I dread: not to be worthy of my sufferings” — Dostoevski
I love how everybody keeps complaining about the way they live their lives. They don’t even consider how lucky they are to be in their positions. They have access to resources, information, etc.
Every man should be grateful for what they have.
At one point in the book, Mr. Frankl said to himself: “I am so lucky to not be already dead.”
“No man and no destiny can be compared with any other man or any other destiny.”
I feel like this is such an important statement. Society is based on comparing ourselves. I am guilty of this myself. It is not a healthy behavior because it doesn’t make sense to be comparing ourselves. I talked about this in one of my other articles. Feel free to check it out if you have time!
“I wish to stress that the true meaning of life is to be discovered in the world rather than within a man.”
If you dread your life, it is not by sitting in front of your computer that you are going to solve your problems. You got to move. You got to go out in uncharted territories and get a lot more experience. Then, and only then, you are going to be able to understand what you are supposed to do with your life.
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