The 53 best quotes from “Man’s Search for Meaning” by Viktor Frankl

Man’s Search for Meaning is a 1946 work, written by the Austrian neurologist and psychiatrist Viktor Frankl. In its pages, The author reviews his experiences in Nazi concentration camps during World War II.. Likewise, he presents his psychotherapeutic method to deal with them.

The work was an immediate success. More than 15 million copies have been sold and it has been translated into more than 20 languages.. He placed the author in the public spotlight and helped popularize his school of psychotherapy: logotherapy. Currently, the Viktor Frankl Institute in Vienna is responsible for keeping his ideas alive.

The best phrases from “Man’s Search for Meaning”

The original title of the book was Ein Psychologe erlebt das Konzentrationslager (a psychologist experiences the concentration camp). The first English translation appeared under the title From Death-Camp to Existentialismand later editions such as Man’s Search for Meaning: An Introduction to Logotherapy.

Next, we leave you with 53 phrases of Man’s Search for Meaning.

1. “When we are no longer able to change a situation, we are challenged to change ourselves.”

Because on many occasions you cannot change the reality that surrounds you. When you have tried everything, you have nothing left but to adapt to the situation itself. This requires changing yourself.

Often the only option is to change yourself.

2. “An abnormal reaction to an abnormal situation is normal behavior.”

Because after all, reactions are characterized by being unpredictable. They are, at least for the first few seconds.then you can control them based on your reason.

3. “Somehow, suffering stops being suffering the moment it finds meaning, like the meaning of a sacrifice.”

Throughout the sentences of Man’s Search for Meaning you will find a direct allusion to suffering. This is because most of the ideas revolve around it.

4. “No man should judge unless he asks himself with absolute honesty whether in a similar situation he would not have done the same thing.”

Often those who judge others do so without thinking about what they would have done if they were in their shoes.

5. “Happiness cannot be pursued; It must happen.”

As you will see in other phrases of Man’s Search for Meaning, Those who pursue happiness and success never manage to have them in their hands..

6. “I do not forget any good deed that has been done to me and I do not hold a grudge for a bad one.”

A phrase that you can well assume as a philosophy of life.

7. “It is not the freedom of conditions, but the freedom to take a position against the conditions.”

Because the conditions will always be there. Freedom is one of the most discussed ideas among philosophers, psychologists and sociologists.and in this and other phrases of Man’s Search for Meaning, Viktor Frankl offers us his point of view.

8. “Because the world is in bad shape, but everything will get worse unless each of us does the best we can.”

When we talk about changing the world, we almost always do so by shifting responsibility to others. The world can only be changed with the sum of the actions of all those who make it up (or at least the majority).

9. “A man’s concern, even his despair, about the value of life is existential anguish but by no means a mental illness.”

All people will experience what is known as existential emptiness several times in their lives. It will come even in moments of greatest success.

10. “It is well known that humor, more than anything else in the human makeup, can allow itself a distance and an ability to overcome any situation, even if only for a few seconds.”

Humor is an underrated tool. In recent years there has been a growing interest in humor as a psychotherapeutic strategy. So, little by little, it has made a place for itself as a tool for self-improvement.

11. “Fear makes what is feared come true.”

Fear is a natural reaction, one that can sometimes reach pathological extremes. These episodes are known as anxiety.

12. “Human kindness can be found in all groups, even those who as a whole would be easy to condemn.”

Kindness is something we find in all cultures and, in some, it is a central axis of ethics and morality.

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

A reflection that puts its finger on the sore spot in one of the crudest episodes of humanity. The new generations cannot do less than obtain learning and teachings.

14. “Suffering unnecessarily is masochistic rather than heroic.”

In practice, for many people suffering is the true possible path. Not because you suffer more to obtain something, that something is more valuable, especially when it involves extreme or unnecessary suffering.

15. “Life is not primarily a search for pleasure, as Freud believed, or a search for power, as Alfred Adler taught, but a search for meaning.”

The meaning of life is the focal point of Viktor Frankl’s theory. If you don’t find meaning in why you live (that is, a purpose), most people will enter the vortex of frustration.

16. “Love is the highest goal to which man can aspire.”

One of the phrases about love Man’s Search for Meaning that we couldn’t leave out of our list.

Love is the most valuable feeling, the engine of life.

17. “As for the concept of collective guilt, I personally believe that it is totally unjustified to hold one person responsible for the behavior of another person or a group of people.”

It is also not fair to assume one’s own guilt for the actions of others.

18. “Man does not simply exist, but always decides what his existence will be, what he will become in the next moment. In the same way, every human being has the freedom to change at any moment.”

Human beings are always thinking about the future, and they do so through planning. You can’t plan a life if you haven’t found a purpose.

19. “But there was no need to be ashamed of tears, because tears bore witness that a man had the greatest courage, the courage to suffer.”

Words in relation to the author’s experience during World War II.

20. “If there is meaning in life, then there must be meaning in suffering. Suffering is an indelible part of life, even like fate and death. Without suffering and death human life cannot be complete.”

In fact, all people are condemned to suffer several times in their lives. They do this at different levels and in different ways.

21. “It is a peculiarity of man that he can only live by looking into the future.”

Although he often does so with chains that tie him to his past.

22. “Man is capable of changing the world for the better if possible, and of changing himself for the better if necessary.”

We can even say that he is not only capable, but in many contexts he is obliged to do so.

23. “The more one forgets about himself, giving himself to a cause to serve or another person to love, the more human he is and the more he actualizes himself.”

A paradox that reality has confirmed on millions of occasions.

24. “The way a man accepts his destiny and all the suffering that comes with it, the way he takes up his cross, gives him ample opportunity, even in the most difficult circumstances, to give deeper meaning to his life.”

There is no magic recipe for finding purpose in life, as there are many internal and external variables that mediate the process.

25. “We don’t like to talk about our experiences. No explanations are needed for those who have been inside, and the others will not understand how we felt then or how we feel now.”

Another of the reflections of Man’s Search for Meaning in relation to the events of the Holocaust.

26. “Forces beyond your control can take away everything you possess, except one thing, your freedom to choose how you respond to the situation.”

Something you should remember in moments of greater tension.

27. “Each one has his or her specific vocation or mission in life; “Each one must perform a specific task that requires fulfillment.”

Since this is a personal purpose, you should avoid others forcing you to follow or copy theirs.

28. “We ourselves must answer the questions that life asks us, and we can only answer these questions by being responsible for our existence.”

That you are responsible for your own life seems obvious, but the truth is that millions and millions have not assumed it. Repeating it is therefore necessary.

Only when we take responsibility for ourselves can we face the challenges of existence.

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

Another curious metaphor of the phrases of Man’s Search for Meaning. Review past events and you will see how they are accurate words.

30. “No one has the right to do evil, even if evil has been done to them.”

Sharp notes that walk the boundaries of resilience.

31. “When a man cannot find meaning, he falls asleep with pleasure.”

And it can live in this state for years and years.

32. “What should give light must withstand burning.”

That is, you must be responsible for the consequences of your actions.

33. “Life is potentially meaningful in any condition, even the most miserable. And this in turn presupposes the human capacity to creatively turn the negative aspects of life into something positive or constructive.”

The responsibility only falls on the person’s own shoulder, not on others.

34. “The immediate influence of behavior is always more effective than that of words.”

Because, as is well known, actions always speak louder than any words.

35. “No one can become fully aware of the very essence of another human being unless he or she loves him or her.”

Another of the phrases about love that we find in Man’s Search for Meaning.

36. “The second way to find meaning in life is to experience something, such as goodness, truth and beauty, experiencing nature and culture or, last but not least, experiencing another human being in their uniqueness, loving it.”

Ideas that superficially expose the theory defended by the Austrian author.

37. “The emotion, which is suffering, ceases to be suffering as soon as we form a clear and precise image of it.”

Also when you understand that the spectrum of emotions are completely natural.

38. “If you dedicate yourself to a cause, they say success will follow.”

You just have to concentrate your…