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 anot… - Viktor Frankl

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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 in the beloved person; and even more, he sees that which is potential in him, which is not yet actualized but yet ought to be actualized. Furthermore, by his love, the loving person enables the beloved person to actualize these potentialities. By making him aware of what he can be and of what he should become, he makes these potentialities come true. In logotherapy, love is not interpreted as a mere epiphenomenon of sexual drives and instincts in the sense of a so-called sublimation. Love is as primary a phenomenon as sex. Normally, sex is a vehicle of expression for love. Sex is justified, even sanctified, as soon as, but only as long as, it is a vehicle of love. Thus love is not understood as a mere side-effect of sex; rather, sex is a way of expressing the experience of that ultimate togetherness which is called love.

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About Viktor Frankl

Viktor Emil Frankl, M.D., Ph.D. (26 March 1905 – 2 September 1997) was an Austrian neurologist and psychiatrist and a Holocaust survivor. Frankl was the founder of logotherapy, which is a form of existential analysis, the "Third Viennese School of Psychotherapy". His best-selling book Man's Search for Meaning chronicles his experiences as a concentration camp inmate which led him to discover the importance of finding meaning in all forms of existence, even the most sordid ones, and thus, a reason to continue living. Frankl became one of the key figures in existential therapy and a prominent source of inspiration for humanistic psychologists.

Biography information from Wikiquote

Also Known As

Pen Names: Norbert Lebrument
Native Name: Viktor Emil Frankl
Alternative Names: Viktor E. Frankl
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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 in the beloved person; and even more, he sees that which is potential in him, which is not yet actualized but yet ought to be actualized. Furthermore, by his love, the loving person enables the beloved person to actualize these potentialities. By making him aware of what he can be and of what he should become, he makes these potentialities come true.

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Additional quotes by Viktor Frankl

"الانسان ليس مشروطا او محتوم السلوك بصورة كلية ولكنه يقرر نفسه سواء سلم تسليما كاملا للظروف أو اتخذ بشأن هذه الظروف موقفا. والانسان بقول آخر, انما يقرر لنفسه, ينتقي الغاية والنهاية "المقرر لنفسه". وهذا هو جوهره. فالانسان ليس ببساطة أمرا موجودا, ولكنه يقرر دائما وجوده الذي سيكون عليه, ويقرر ما الذي سوف يصير اليه في اللحظة التالية."

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