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
For success, like happiness, cannot be pursued; it must ensue, and it only does so as the unintended side-effect of one's personal dedication to a cause greater than oneself or as the by-product of one's surrender to a person other than oneself.
Interpretation
What this quote means
Success and happiness come as a result of dedication to something greater than oneself, not from direct pursuit.
Viktor E. Frankl suggests that success and happiness are not goals to chase after directly. Instead, they naturally follow when one dedicates themselves to a greater cause or surrenders to the needs of others. This perspective emphasizes the importance of selflessness and commitment, fostering a deeper fulfillment that arises from these actions rather than from the pursuit of success itself.
Themes
SuccessHappinessDedicationSelflessnessCause
In practice
Example use cases
During a motivational speech about the importance of selflessness in achieving true success.
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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