Then I grasped the meaning of the greatest secret that human poetry and human thought and belief have to impart: The salvation of man is through love and in love.
Viktor E. FranklRead
When I was taken to the concentration camp of Auschwitz, a manuscript of mine ready for publication was confiscated. Certainly, my deep desire to write this manuscript anew helped me to survive the rigors of the camps I was in.
Interpretation
What this quote means
The desire to create and express oneself can provide strength in the face of suffering.
In this quote, Viktor E. Frankl emphasizes the transformative power of one's passions, particularly the passion for writing. Even in the dire circumstances of a concentration camp, his desire to rewrite his manuscript became a source of motivation and resilience, highlighting how inner aspirations can help individuals endure even the most harrowing experiences.
Themes
SurvivalPurposeResilienceWritingAuschwitz
In practice
Example use cases
In a speech about overcoming obstacles, one could refer to Frankl’s experience to illustrate the power of passion in survival.
More from Viktor E. Frankl
All quotes →The crowning experience of all, for the homecoming man, is the wonderful feeling that, after all he has suffered, there is nothing he need fear anymore—except his God.
Viktor E. FranklRead
Here lies the chance for a man either to make use of or to forgo the opportunities of attaining the moral values that a difficult situation may afford him. And this decides whether he is worthy of his sufferings or not.
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It is the pursuit of happiness that thwarts happiness.
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Logotherapy sees the human patient in all his humanness. I step up to the core of the patient's being. And that is a being in search of meaning, a being that is transcending himself, a being capable of acting in love for others.
Viktor E. FranklRead
The more one forgives himself - by giving himself to a cause to serve or another person to love - the more human he is and the more he actualizes himself.
Viktor E. FranklRead
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