Happiness cannot be attained by wanting to be happy - it must come as the unintended consequence of working for a goal greater than oneself. Viktor E. Frankl More Quotes by Viktor E. Frankl More Quotes From Viktor E. Frankl Love is the only way to grasp another human being in the innermost core of his personality. No one can become fully aware of the very essence of another human being unless he loves him. By his love he is enabled to see the essential traits and features. Viktor E. Frankl essencepersonalitylove I shall never forget how I was roused one night by the groans of a fellow prisoner, who threw himself about in his sleep, obviously having a horrible nightmare. Since I had always been especially sorry for people who suffered from fearful dreams or deliria, I wanted to wake the poor man. Suddenly I drew back the hand which was ready to shake him, frightened at the thing I was about to do. At that moment I became intensely conscious of the fact that no dream, no matter how horrible, could be as bad as the reality of the camp which surrounded us, and to which I was about to recall him. Viktor E. Frankl sorrydreamsleep The existential vacuum manifests itself mainly in a state of boredom. Viktor E. Frankl boredomvacuumsexistential I understood how a man who has nothing left in this world may still know bliss, be it only for a brief moment, in the contemplation of his beloved. In a position of utter desolation, when a man cannot express himself in positive action, when his only achievement may consist in enduring his sufferings in the right way - an honorable way - in such a position man can, through loving contemplation of the image he carries of his beloved, achieve fulfillment. Viktor E. Frankl understandingsufferingmen Between stimulus and response is the freedom to choose. Viktor E. Frankl stimulus-and-responseconflicthealing Consider a movie: it consists of thousands upon thousands of individual pictures, and each of them makes sense and carries a meaning, yet the meaning of the whole film cannot be seen before its last sequence is shown. However, we cannot understand the whole film without having first understood each of its components, each of the individual pictures. Isn't it the same with life? Doesn't the final meaning of life, too, reveal itself, it at all, only at its end, on the verge of death? Viktor E. Frankl meaning-of-lifefinalslasts The more one forgives 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. Viktor E. Frankl self-actualizationcausesgiving When a man cannot find meaning, he numbs himself with pleasure. Viktor E. Frankl find-mepleasuremen What will it matter to him if he notices that he is growing old? Has he any reason to envy the young people whom he sees, or wax nostalgic over his own lost youth? What reasons has he to envy a young person? For the possibilities that a young person has, the future which is in store for him? "No, thank you," he will think. "Instead of possibilities, I have realities in my past, not only the reality of work done and love loved, but of sufferings bravely suffered. These sufferings are even the things of which I am most proud, though these things are things that cannot inspire envy." Viktor E. Frankl realitypastthinking I do not forget any good deed done to me & I do not carry a grudge for a bad one. Viktor E. Frankl deeds-donegood-deedsforget Then 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. Viktor E. Frankl secretlovemen View life as a series of movie frames, the ending and meaning may not be apparent until the very end of the movie, and yet, each of the hundreds of individual frames has meaning within the context of the whole movie. Viktor E. Frankl spiritualviewsmay Our attitude towards what has happened to us in life is the important thing to recognize. Once hopeless, my life is now hope-full, but it did not happen overnight. The last of human freedoms, to choose one's attitude in any given set of circumstances, is to choose one's own way. Viktor E. Frankl parentmomattitude For the meaning of life differs from man to man, from day to day and from hour to hour. What matters, therefore, is not the meaning of life in general but rather the specific meaning of a person's life at a given moment. Viktor E. Frankl what-mattersmenlife A human being is a deciding being. Viktor E. Frankl thrivechoicesinspirational When a man finds that it is his destiny to suffer, he will have to accept his suffering as his task. . . . He will have to acknowledge the fact that even in suffering he is unique and alone in the universe. No one can relieve him of his suffering or suffer in his place. His unique opportunity lies in the way in which he bears his burden. Viktor E. Frankl uniqueacceptancelying The angels are lost in perpetual contemplation of an infinite glory. Viktor E. Frankl infinitegloryangel 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. Viktor E. Frankl triumphachievementtragedy Life can be pulled by goals just as surely as it can be pushed by drives. Viktor E. Frankl goalinspirationallife Instead of possibilities, I have realities in my past, not only the reality of work done and of love loved, but of sufferings bravely suffered. These sufferings are even the things of which I am most proud, though these are things which cannot inspire envy. Viktor E. Frankl envyrealitypast
