Viktor Frankl

"Dostoevski said once, "There is only one thing I dread: not to be worthy of my sufferings." These words frequently came to my mind after I became acquainted with those martyrs whose behavior in camp, whose suffering and death, bore witness to the fact that the last inner freedom cannot be lost. It can be said that they were worthy of the their sufferings; the way they bore their suffering was a genuine inner achievement. It is this spiritual freedom — which cannot be taken away — that makes life meaningful and purposeful."

Since Auschwitz we know what man is capable of. And since Hiroshima we know what is at stake.

"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.

Dostoevski said once, "There is only one thing that I dread: not to be worthy of my sufferings."

These words frequently came to my mind after I became acquainted with those martyrs whose behavior in camp, whose suffering and death, bore witness to the fact that the last inner freedom cannot be lost. It can be said that they were worthy of their sufferings; the way they bore their suffering was a genuine inner achievement.

It is this spiritual freedom- which cannot be taken away- that makes life meaningful and purposeful."

حينما يجد الإنسان أن مصيره هو المعاناة، فإن عليه أن يتقبل آلامه و معاناته كما لو أنها مهمة مفروضة عليه، وهي مهمة فريدة ومتميزة. و عليه أن يعترف بالحقيقة بأنه حتى في المعاناة فهو فريد و وحيد في الكون. لا يستطيع أحد أن يخلصه من معاناته أو يعاني بدلاً منه. ففرصته الفريدة تكمن في الطريقة التي يتحمل بها أعباءه و متاعبه

I believe that my handicap will only enhance my ability to help others. I know that without the suffering, the growth that I have achieved would have been impossible.

In his creative work the artist is dependent on sources and resources deriving from the spiritual unconscious.

We must never forget that we may also find meaning in life even when confronted with a hopeless situation, when facing a fate that cannot be changed. 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. 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.

Freedom is in danger of degenerating into mere arbitrariness unless it is lived in terms of responsibleness. That is why I recommend that the Statue of Liberty on the East Coast be supplemented by a Statue of Responsibility on the West Coast.

To suffer unecessarily is masochistic rather than heroic.

Those who know how close the connection is between the state of mind of a man — his courage and hope, or lack of them — and the state of immunity of his body will understand that the sudden loss of hope and courage can have a deadly effect.

Because of social pressure, individualism is rejected by most people in favor of conformity. Thus the individual relies mainly upon the actions of others and neglects the meaning of his own personal life. Hence he sees his own life as meaningless and falls into the “existential vacuum” feeling inner void. Progressive automation causes increasing alcoholism, juvenile delinquency, and suicide.

You cannot control what happens to you in life, but you can always control what you will feel and do about what happens to you.

لكي تعيش عليك أن تعاني ، ولكي تبقى عليك أن تجد معنى للمعاناة. وإذا كان هناك هدف في الحياة، فإنه يوجد بالتالي هدف في المعاناة وفي الموت.

What man actually needs is not a tensionless state but rather the striving and struggling for some goal worthy of him. What he needs is not the discharge of tension at any cost, but the call of a potential meaning waiting to be fulfilled by him.

Suffering ceases to be suffering at the moment it finds a meaning