568 Quotes by Viktor E. Frankl

Man’s search for meaning is the chief motivation of his life.

Happiness cannot be attained by wanting to be happy – it must come as the unintended consequence of working for a goal greater than oneself.

Life is like being at the dentist. You always think that the worst is still to come, and yet it is over already.

Even though conditions such as lack of sleep, insuffcient food and various mental stresses may suggest that the inmates were bound to react in certain ways, in the final analysis it becomes clear that the sort of person the prisoner became was the result of an inner decision, and not the result of camp influences alone. Fundamentally, therefore, any man can, even under such circumstances, decide what shall become of him – mentally and spiritually.

Suffering in and of itself is meaningless; we give our suffering meaning by the way in which we respond to it.

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.

I said that someone looks down on each of us in difficult hours – a friend, a wife, somebody alive or dead, or a God – and he would not expect us to disappoint him. He would hope to find us suffering proudly – not miserably – knowing how to die.

Strangely enough, a blow which does not even find its mark can, under certain circumstance, hurt more than one that finds its mark.

It isn’t the past which holds us back, it’s the future; and how we undermine it, today.