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Viktor E. Frankl Quotes - Page 9

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These tasks, and therefore the meaning of life, differ from man to man, and from moment to moment. Thus it is impossible to define the meaning in life in a general way.

These tasks, and therefore the meaning of life, differ from man to man, and from moment to moment. Thus it is impossible to define the meaning in life in a general way.

Viktor E. Frankl
Men, Meaning Of Life, Tasks
Viktor E. Frankl (2015). “Man's Search For Meaning, Gift Edition”, p.63, Beacon Press

The incurable sufferer is given very little opportunity to be proud of his suffering and to consider it ennobling rather than degrading" so that "he is not only unhappy, but also ashamed of being unhappy.

Viktor E. Frankl
Opportunity, Suffering, Unhappy
Viktor E. Frankl (2006). “Man's Search for Meaning”, p.114, Beacon Press

Man's search for meaning is the primary motivation in his life and not a "secondary rationalization" of instinctual drives. This meaning is unique and specific in that it must and can be fulfilled by him alone; only then does it achieve a significance which will satisfy his own will to meaning.

Viktor E. Frankl
Motivation, Unique, Men
Viktor E. Frankl (2015). “Man's Search For Meaning, Gift Edition”, p.78, Beacon Press

We dislike talking about our experiences. No explanations are needed for those who have been inside, and the others will understand neither how we felt then nor how we feel now.

Viktor E. Frankl
Talking, Explanation, Needed
Viktor E. Frankl (2015). “Man's Search For Meaning, Gift Edition”, p.13, Beacon Press

A sound philosophy of life, I think, may be the most valuable asset for a psychiatrist to have when he is treating a patient.

Viktor E. Frankl
Philosophy, Thinking, Mentor

Usually, to be sure, man considers only the stubble field of transitoriness and overlooks the full granaries of the past, wherein he had salvaged once and for all his deeds, his joys and also his sufferings. Nothing can be undone, and nothing can be done away with. I should say having been is the surest kind of being.

Viktor E. Frankl
Past, Men, Joy
Viktor E. Frankl (2017). “Man's Search for Meaning: Young Adult Edition: Young Adult Edition”, p.119, Beacon Press

Such a value system might be responsible for the fact that the burden of unavoidable unhappiness is increased by unhappiness about being unhappy.

Viktor E. Frankl
Unhappy, Might, Facts
Viktor E. Frankl (2006). “Man's Search for Meaning”, p.114, Beacon Press

Woe to him who saw no more sense in his life, no aim, no purpose, and therefore no point in carrying on.

Viktor E. Frankl
Purpose, Woe, Carrying On
Viktor E. Frankl (2015). “Man's Search For Meaning, Gift Edition”, p.63, Beacon Press

But my mind clung to my wife's image, imagining it with an uncanny acuteness. I heard her answering me, saw her smile, her frank and encouraging look. Real or not, her look then was more luminous than the sun which was beginning to rise.

Viktor E. Frankl
Real, Wife, Mind
Viktor E. Frankl (2015). “Man's Search For Meaning, Gift Edition”, p.35, Beacon Press

I became acquainted with those martyrs whose behavior in camp, whose suffering and death, bore witness to the fact that the last inner freedom cannot be lost.

Viktor E. Frankl
Attitude, Suffering And Death, Lasts
Viktor E. Frankl (2015). “Man's Search For Meaning, Gift Edition”, p.56, Beacon Press

There are some authors who contend that meanings and values are "nothing but defense mechanisms, reaction formations and sublimations." But as for myself, I would not be willing to live merely for the sake of my "defense mechanisms," nor would I be ready to die merely for the sake of my "reaction formations.

Viktor E. Frankl
Defense, Sake, Reactions
Viktor E. Frankl (2015). “Man's Search For Meaning, Gift Edition”, p.78, Beacon Press

We needed to stop asking about the meaning of life.

Viktor E. Frankl
Life, Asking, Mans Search For Meaning
Viktor E. Frankl (2015). “Man's Search For Meaning, Gift Edition”, p.63, Beacon Press

There is also purpose in life which is almost barren of both creation and enjoyment and which admits of but one possibility of high moral behavior: namely, in man's attitude to his existence, an existence restricted by external forces.

Viktor E. Frankl
Life, Attitude, Men
Viktor E. Frankl (2006). “Man's Search for Meaning”, p.73, Beacon Press

How can we dare to predict the behavior of man? We may predict the movements of a machine, of an automaton; more than this, we many even try to predict the mechanisms or "dynamisms" of the human psyche as well. But man is more than psyche.

Viktor E. Frankl
Men, Trying, Machines
Viktor E. Frankl (2015). “Man's Search For Meaning, Gift Edition”, p.101, Beacon Press

Having been is also a kind of being, and perhaps the surest kind.

Viktor E. Frankl
Kind
Viktor E. Frankl (2015). “Man's Search For Meaning, Gift Edition”, p.67, Beacon Press

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