1,900 Quotes About Meaning

Logotherapy tries to make the patient fully aware of his own responsibleness; therefore, it must leave to him the option for what, to what, or to whom he understands himself to be responsible. That is why a logotherapist is the least tempted of all psychotherapists to impose value judgments on his patients, for he will never permit the patient to pass to the doctor the responsibility of judging.

A human being is not one thing among others; things determine each other, but man is ultimately self-determining. What he becomes–within the limits of endowment and environment–he has made out of himself.

(...) mental health is based on a certain degree of tension, the tension between what one has already achieved and what one still ought to accomplish, or the gap between what one is and what one should become. Such a tension is inherent in the human being and therefore is indispensable to mental well-being.

(...) can life retain its potential meaning in spite of its tragic aspects? After all, 'saying yes to life in spite of everything,' (...) presupposes that life is potentially meaningful under any conditions, even those which are most miserable. And this in turn presupposes the human capacity to creatively turn life’s negative aspects into something positive or constructive. In other words, what matters is to make the best of any given situation.

Deep in the voice of a child and laced throughout the melody of their laughter we can hear what life was like before ‘innocence stolen’ swept it away. And if we bend down and listen closely, we suddenly realize that life was never stolen. Rather, we gave it away.

A span of life is nothing. But the man who lives that span, he is something. He can fill that tiny span with meaning, so its quality is immeasurable though its quantity may be insignificant.

you will always die you will live forever you are nothing & nobody you are made of stars — you will be forgotten

Find me in wordsThat has not been writtenIn songs,Yet to be sungIn an empty sea,Or the brightest moonOr the gloomiest sunBecause yeu will not find meLike yeu find other peopleI paint my soul in dreamsI live for the person i have never beenThough life is quite simpleWhen yeu want to understand it simplyI am hereWaiting for doors to open in the skyI am hereWaiting for doors to open in the sky

Originally human beings had no purpose. Now, dreaming up some purpose or other, they struggle away trying to find the meaning of life. It is a one-man wrestling match. There is no purpose one has to think about, or go out in search of. You would do well to ask the children whether or not a life without purpose is meaningless.