568 Quotes by Viktor E. Frankl

One may demand heroism only of a single person and that is oneself.

Unnecessary suffering is masochistic rather than heroic.

No-one will be able to make us believe that man is a sublimated animal once we can show that within him there is a repressed angel.

There are two races of men in this world, but only these two–the 'race' of the decent man and the 'race' of the indecent man. Both are found everywhere; they penetrate into all groups of society. No group consists entirely of decent or indecent people.

We all said...that there could be no earthly happiness which could compensate for all we had suffered. We were not hoping for happiness ‒ it was not that which gave us courage and gave meaning to our suffering, our sacrifices and our dying. And yet we were not prepared for unhappiness.

He who knows the 'Why' for his existence is able to bear almost any 'How'.

Life requires of man spiritual elasticity, so that he may temper his efforts to the chances that are offered.

Don’t aim at success—the more you aim at it and make it a target, the more you are going to miss it. For success, like happiness, cannot be pursued; it must ensue…as the unintended side-effect of one’s personal dedication to a course greater than oneself.

When the impossibility of replacing a person is realized, it allows the responsibility which a man has for his existence and its continuance to appear in all its magnitude.