Quotes on Search For Meaning

A human being is not one thing among others; things determine each other, but man is ultimately self-determining. What he becomes-within the limits of endowment and environment-he has made out of himself.

These tasks, and therefore the meaning of life, differ from man to man, and from moment to moment. Thus it is impossible to define the meaning in life in a general way.

It is this spiritual freedom - which cannot be taken away - _x000D_ that makes life meaningful and purposeful.

We had to learn...that it did not really matter what we expected from life but rather what life expected from us.

Once an individual's search for meaning is successful, it not only renders him happy but also gives him the capability to cope with suffering

Set me like a seal upon thy heart, love is as strong as death.

Every human being has the freedom to change at any instant.

I became acquainted with those martyrs whose behavior in camp, whose suffering and death, bore witness to the fact that the last inner freedom cannot be lost.

Live as if you were living already for the second time.

When a man finds that it is his destiny to suffer, he will have to accept his suffering as his task. . . . He will have to acknowledge the fact that even in suffering he is unique and alone in the universe. No one can relieve him of his suffering or suffer in his place. His unique opportunity lies in the way in which he bears his burden.

Instead of possibilities, I have realities in my past, not only the reality of work done and of love loved, but of sufferings bravely suffered. These sufferings are even the things of which I am most proud, though these are things which cannot inspire envy.

I understood how a man who has nothing left in this world still may know bliss, be it only for a brief moment, in the contemplation of his beloved.

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

No man should judge unless he asks himself in absolute honesty whether in a similar situation he might not have done the same.

And I quoted from Nietzsche: That which does not kill me, makes me stronger.

Man does not simply exist but always decides what his existence will be, what he will become the next moment. By the same token, every human being has the freedom to change at any instant.

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.

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.