Viktor E. Frankl Quotes

173 quotes in 2114 categories

• 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…
• How can we dare to predict the behavior of man? We may predict the movements of a machine, of an automaton; more than this, we…
• In psychiatry there is a certain condition known as delusion of reprieve. The condemned man, immediately before his execution, gets the illusion that he might…
• It isn't the past which holds us back, it's the future; and how we undermine it, today.
• Somewhere I heard a victorious "Yes" in answer to my question of the existence of ultimate purpose.
• I understood how a man who has nothing left in this world may still know bliss, be it only for a brief moment, in the…
• Man's search for meaning is the primary motivation in his life and not a "secondary rationalization" of instinctual drives. This meaning is unique and specific…
• Man's last freedom is his freedom to choose how he will react in any given situation
• When a person can’t find a deep sense of meaning, they distract themselves with pleasure.
• This is the core of the human spirit ... If we can find something to live for - if we can find some meaning to…
• The struggle for existence is a struggle 'for' something; it is purposeful and only in so being is it meaningful and able to bring meaning…
• Life asks of every individual a contribution, and it is up to that individual to discover what it should be
• The more one forgets one’s own self, the more human the person becomes.
• When a man finds that it is his destiny to suffer... his unique opportunity lies in the way he bears his burden.
• The one thing you can't take away from me is the way I choose to respond to what you do to me.
• Success, like happiness, is the unexpected side effect of one's personal dedication to a cause greater than oneself.
• What you have experienced, no power on earth can take from you.
• I want you to listen to what your conscience commands you to do and go on to carry it out to the best of your…
• If we take a man as he is, we make him worse, but if we take man as he should be we make him capable…
• There are two races of men in this world but only these two: the race of the decent man and the race of the indecent…

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