Man's Search for Meaning
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| 1984 Revised and Updated Edition | |
| Author | Victor E. Frankl |
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| Original title (if not in English) | Ein Psycholog erlebt das Konzentrationslager |
| Language | English |
| Genre(s) | Psychology |
| Publisher | |
| Released | |
| Media Type | Print ( ) |
| ISBN | ISBN |
Viktor Frankl's 1946 book Man's Search for Meaning chronicles his experiences as a concentration camp inmate and describes his psychotherapeutic method of finding a reason to live. According to Frankl, the book intends to answer the question "How was everyday life in a concentration camp reflected in the mind of the average prisoner?" The first section of the book constitutes Frankl's experiences in the concentration camps, while the second half is an introduction to logotherapy.
Contents |
[edit] Experiences in a concentration camp
In this section of the book, Frankl recalls what he has seen and observed while in several Nazi camps. He then goes on to draw conclusions about life and human nature. Frankl asserts that the meaning of life is found in every moment of living; life never ceases to have meaning, even in suffering and death. According to Frankl, someone is always looking down on us, be it a living or dead friend, family member, or even God; Therefore, we should not disappoint them.[citation needed] The book also concludes that there are only two races of men, decent men and indecent. No society is free of either of them, and thus there were "decent" Nazi guards and "indecent" prisoners, most notably the capo who would betray their fellow prisoners for personal gain. The final chapter concerns the mindset of the prisoners after liberation. While marching through the fields around their former prisons, the prisoners become aware that they are unable to comprehend pleasure. Flowers, kindness, and the sense of freedom given to them after their liberation seems surreal and the prisoners are unable to grasp it. Even when he or she would return to "normal" life, a prisoner would feel disillusion and bitterness. As time passes, the prisoner's experience in a concentration camp seems nothing more than a nightmare.
[edit] Quotations
- "It did not really matter what we expected from life, but rather what life expected from us."
- "Nietzsche's words, 'He who has a why to live for can bear with almost any how.'"
- "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"
- "We who lived in concentration camps can remember the men who walked through the huts comforting others, giving away their last piece of bread. They may have been few in number, but they offer sufficient proof that 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."
- "Fundamentally, therefore, any man can, even under such circumstances, decide what shall become of him - mentally and spiritually. He may retain his human dignity even in a concentration camp."
- "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."
- "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, and instead to think of ourselves as those who were being questioned by life—daily and hourly. Our answer must consist, not in talk and meditation, but in right action and in right conduct. 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."
- "Man is capable of changing the world for the better if possible, and of changing himself for the better if necessary."
- "Set me like a seal upon thy heart, love is as strong as death."
