Viktor E. Frankl

To the European, it is a characteristic of the American culture that, again and again, one is commanded and ordered to 'be happy.' But happiness cannot be pursued; it must ensue. One must have a reason to 'be happy.' Once the reason is found, however, one becomes happy automatically. As we see, a human being is not one in pursuit of happiness but rather in search of a reason to become happy, last but not least, through actualizing the potential meaning inherent and dormant in a given situation.

An abnormal reaction to an abnormal situation is normal behavior.

Woe to him who saw no more sense in his life, no aim, no purpose, and therefore no point in carrying on.

The point is not what we expect from life, but rather what life expects from us.

The incurable sufferer is given very little opportunity to be proud of his suffering and to consider it ennobling rather than degrading" so that "he is not only unhappy, but also ashamed of being unhappy.

A man's concern, even his despair, over the worthwhileness of life is an existential distress but by no means a mental disease.

I do not forget any good deed done to me & I do not carry a grudge for a bad one.

Love goes very far beyond the physical person of the beloved. It finds its deepest meaning in its spiritual being, his inner self. Whether or not he is actually present, whether or not he is still alive at all, ceases somehow to be of importance.

For the world is in a bad state, but everything will become still worse unless each of us does his best.

We cannot, after all, judge a biography by its length, by the number of pages in it; we must judge by the richness of the contents...Sometimes the 'unfinisheds' are among the most beautiful symphonies.

It is not freedom from conditions, but it is freedom to take a stand toward the conditions.

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

Life is never made unbearable by circumstances, but only by lack of meaning and purpose.

A human being is a deciding being.

For the meaning of life differs from man to man, from day to day and from hour to hour. What matters, therefore, is not the meaning of life in general but rather the specific meaning of a person's life at a given moment.

Each man is questioned by life; and he can only answer to life by answering for his own life; to life he can only respond by being responsible.

Challenging the meaning of life is the truest expression of the state of being human.

Live as if you were living a second time, and as though you had acted wrongly the first time.

Life can be pulled by goals just as surely as it can be pushed by drives.