--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: I shall never forget how I was roused one…" description: "\"I shall never forget how I was roused one night by the groans of a fellow prisoner, who threw himself about in his sleep, obviously having a horrible n..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/550/viktor-e-frankl-668_camps_i-shall-never-forget-how-i-was-roused-on_624145.jpg" --- # I shall never forget how I was roused one night by the… ![“I shall never forget how I was roused one night by the groans of a fellow prisoner, who threw himself about in his sleep, obviously having a horrible nightmare. Since I had always been especially sorry for people who suffered from fearful dreams or deliria, I wanted to wake the poor man. Suddenly…” quote by Viktor E. Frankl](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/550/viktor-e-frankl-668_camps_i-shall-never-forget-how-i-was-roused-on_624145.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/550/viktor-e-frankl-668_camps_i-shall-never-forget-how-i-was-roused-on_624145.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/550/viktor-e-frankl-668_camps_i-shall-never-forget-how-i-was-roused-on_624145.jpg) > “I shall never forget how I was roused one night by the groans of a fellow prisoner, who threw himself about in his sleep, obviously having a horrible nightmare. Since I had always been especially sorry for people who suffered from fearful dreams or deliria, I wanted to wake the poor man. Suddenly I drew back the hand which was ready to shake him, frightened at the thing I was about to do. At that moment I became intensely conscious of the fact that no dream, no matter how horrible, could be as bad as the reality of the camp which surrounded us, and to which I was about to recall him.” [Viktor E. Frankl](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/viktor-e-frankl/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. The horror of a nightmare pales in comparison to the brutal reality of a concentration camp, highlighting how suffering can be more terrifying than imagined fears. **In simple terms:** Nightmares are less terrible than real suffering. Key Takeaway Recognize the true weight of reality over imagined fears. Themes suffering reality empathy Mood somber reflective Type philosophical historical When to use this quote - prisoner support - mental health counseling - historical education - trauma therapy Key Concepts existential psychology human resilience Questions to Reflect On - How do you differentiate between imagined and actual threats? - What can we learn about empathy from extreme suffering? A Different Perspective The quote may understate the coping mechanisms people use in extreme conditions. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Camps](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/camps/) [Conscious](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/conscious/) [Delirium](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/delirium/) [Dream](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/dream/) [Dreams](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/dreams/) [Dreams Deliria](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/dreams-deliria-5044884/) [Facts](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/facts/) [Fearful](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/fearful/) [Fearful Dreams](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/fearful-dreams-362699/) [Forget](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/forget/) [Frightened](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/frightened/) [Hands](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/hands/) [Horrible](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/horrible/) [Horrible Nightmare](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/horrible-nightmare-666675/) [Matter](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/matter/) [Men](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/men/) [Moments](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/moments/) [Never forget](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/never-forget/) [Night](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/night/) [Nightmare](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/nightmare/) [People](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/people/) [Poor](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/poor/) [Poor man](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/poor-man/) [Prisoner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/prisoner/) [Ready](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/ready/) [Reality](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/reality/) [Shakes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/shakes/) [Sleep](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/sleep/) [Sorry](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/sorry/) [Suffered Fearful](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/suffered-fearful-5044883/) [That moment](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/that-moment/) [Wanted](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/wanted/) ## Related quotes > [“She's sure, absolutely sure, that what she's waiting for will happen, just the way she wants it to; and I'm so uncertain, so fearful…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lois-lowry/she-s-sure-absolutely-sure-that-what-she-s-waiting-for-will-happen/) [Lois Lowry](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lois-lowry/) > [What was a sweet dream yesterday, became a horrible nightmare today](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/what-was-a-sweet-dream-yesterday-became-a-horrible-nightmare-today/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [The part of me which wanders through my mind and never sees or feels actual objects, but which lives in and moves through my…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/the-part-of-me-which-wanders-through-my-mind-and-never-sees-or-feels/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [I hate this world, this dream, this horrible nightmare, with its churches and chicaneries, its books and blackguardisms, its fair faces and false hearts,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/swami-vivekananda/i-hate-this-world-this-dream-this-horrible-nightmare-with-its/) [Swami Vivekananda](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/swami-vivekananda/) > [Whenever we wake up from a horrible nightmare, we don't immediately scream out of happiness.It takes a while to feel so safe and so…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mehmet-murat-ildan/whenever-we-wake-up-from-a-horrible-nightmare-we-don-t-immediately/) [Mehmet Murat Ildan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mehmet-murat-ildan/) > [“I was trapped in a horrible nightmare that happened to other people, not to me. Not to my family and not to my husband.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-marrs/i-was-trapped-in-a-horrible-nightmare-that-happened-to-other-people/) [John Marrs](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-marrs/) > [“Food for the body, milk for your bones, ice for the bleeding, a belly of stones.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/food-for-the-body-milk-for-your-bones-ice-for-the-bleeding-a-belly-of/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [I wish I could close my eyes and be blown into dust and nothingness, feel all my thoughts disperse like dandelion fluff drifting off…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lauren-oliver/i-wish-i-could-close-my-eyes-and-be-blown-into-dust-and-nothingness-2/) [Lauren Oliver](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lauren-oliver/) > [To hell with reality! I want to die in music, not in reason or in prose.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/louis-ferdinand-celine/to-hell-with-reality-i-want-to-die-in-music-not-in-reason-or-in-prose/) [Louis-Ferdinand Celine](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/louis-ferdinand-celine/) > [“All those years I’d drifted along too glassy and insulated for any kind of reality to push through: a delirium which had spun me…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/donna-tartt/all-those-years-i-d-drifted-along-too-glassy-and-insulated-for-any/) [Donna Tartt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/donna-tartt/) > [The greatest part of mankind labor under one delirium or another; and Don Quixote differed from the rest, not in madness, but the species…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henry-fielding/the-greatest-part-of-mankind-labor-under-one-delirium-or-another-and/) [Henry Fielding](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henry-fielding/) > [God is a spirit. Jesus was led up of the Spirit to be tempted of the Devil; and it is also true that spirits…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-bradlaugh/god-is-a-spirit-jesus-was-led-up-of-the-spirit-to-be-tempted-of-the/) [Charles Bradlaugh](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-bradlaugh/) > [You know the best thing about aeroplanes? Apart from the peanuts in little silver bags, I mean. It's looking out of the windows at…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/neil-gaiman/you-know-the-best-thing-about-aeroplanes-apart-from-the-peanuts-in/) [Neil Gaiman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/neil-gaiman/) > [“I wish I could close my eyes and be blown into dust and nothingness, feel all my thoughts disperse like dandelion fluff drifting off…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lauren-oliver/i-wish-i-could-close-my-eyes-and-be-blown-into-dust-and-nothingness/) [Lauren Oliver](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lauren-oliver/) > [I'd rather die on my own terms than live on theirs. I'd rather die loving Alex than live without him.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lauren-oliver/i-d-rather-die-on-my-own-terms-than-live-on-theirs-i-d-rather-die/) [Lauren Oliver](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lauren-oliver/) ## More by Viktor E. Frankl > [For the meaning of life differs from man to man, from day to day and from hour to hour. What matters, therefore, is not…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/viktor-e-frankl/for-the-meaning-of-life-differs-from-man-to-man-from-day-to-day-and/) [Viktor E. Frankl](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/viktor-e-frankl/) > [“In the past, nothing is irretrievably lost, but rather, on the contrary, everything is irrevocably stored and treasured. To be sure, people tend to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/viktor-e-frankl/in-the-past-nothing-is-irretrievably-lost-but-rather-on-the-contrary/) [Viktor E. Frankl](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/viktor-e-frankl/) > [When a man finds that it is his destiny to suffer... his unique opportunity lies in the way he bears his burden.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/viktor-e-frankl/when-a-man-finds-that-it-is-his-destiny-to-suffer-his-unique/) [Viktor E. Frankl](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/viktor-e-frankl/) > [“A positive attitude enables a person to endure suffering and disappointment as well as enhance enjoyment and satisfaction. A negative attitude intensifies pain and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/viktor-e-frankl/a-positive-attitude-enables-a-person-to-endure-suffering-and/) [Viktor E. Frankl](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/viktor-e-frankl/) > [“our sacrifice did have a meaning.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/viktor-e-frankl/our-sacrifice-did-have-a-meaning/) [Viktor E. Frankl](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/viktor-e-frankl/) > [Man's last freedom is his freedom to choose how he will react in any given situation](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/viktor-e-frankl/man-s-last-freedom-is-his-freedom-to-choose-how-he-will-react-in-any/) [Viktor E. Frankl](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/viktor-e-frankl/) > [The more one forgets himself - by giving himself to a cause to serve or another person to love - the more human he…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/viktor-e-frankl/the-more-one-forgets-himself-by-giving-himself-to-a-cause-to-serve-or/) [Viktor E. Frankl](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/viktor-e-frankl/) > [“There is nothing in the world, I venture to say, that would so effectively help one to survive even the worst conditions as the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/viktor-e-frankl/there-is-nothing-in-the-world-i-venture-to-say-that-would-so/) [Viktor E. Frankl](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/viktor-e-frankl/) > [Man's search for meaning is the chief motivation of his life.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/viktor-e-frankl/man-s-search-for-meaning-is-the-chief-motivation-of-his-life/) [Viktor E. Frankl](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/viktor-e-frankl/) > [In a last violent protest against the hopelessness of imminent death, I sensed my spirit piercing through the enveloping gloom. I felt it transcend…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/viktor-e-frankl/in-a-last-violent-protest-against-the-hopelessness-of-imminent-death/) [Viktor E. Frankl](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/viktor-e-frankl/) > [“But happiness cannot be pursued; it must ensue.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/viktor-e-frankl/but-happiness-cannot-be-pursued-it-must-ensue/) [Viktor E. Frankl](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/viktor-e-frankl/) > [Being tolerant does not mean that I share another one's belief. But it does mean that I acknowledge another one's right to believe, and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/viktor-e-frankl/being-tolerant-does-not-mean-that-i-share-another-one-s-belief-but-it/) [Viktor E. Frankl](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/viktor-e-frankl/) > [“I think it was Lessing who once said, 'There are things which must cause you to lose your reason or you have none to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/viktor-e-frankl/i-think-it-was-lessing-who-once-said-there-are-things-which-must/) [Viktor E. Frankl](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/viktor-e-frankl/) > [“I believe that my handicap will only enhance my ability to help others. I know that without the suffering, the growth that I have…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/viktor-e-frankl/i-believe-that-my-handicap-will-only-enhance-my-ability-to-help/) [Viktor E. Frankl](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/viktor-e-frankl/) > [“He main retain his human dignity even in a concentration camp. Dostoevsky said once, 'There is only one thing that I dread: not to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/viktor-e-frankl/he-main-retain-his-human-dignity-even-in-a-concentration-camp/) [Viktor E. Frankl](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/viktor-e-frankl/) [Explore all 381 Viktor E. Frankl quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/viktor-e-frankl/) ## More Camps quotes > [Humanitarian goods and people must flow in both directions. Gaza cannot and must not be allowed to remain a prison camp.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-cameron/humanitarian-goods-and-people-must-flow-in-both-directions-gaza/) [David Cameron](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-cameron/) > [The surprise of an army is now next to an impossibility. ... 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You go in hard, then…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-dano/i-try-to-leave-my-work-at-the-door-when-i-leave-the-set-it-s-almost/) [Paul Dano](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-dano/) > [When I was seventeen, I worked as a counsellor at a co-ed sleep-away camp for eight weeks. 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Suddenly I drew back the hand which was ready to shake him, frightened at the thing I was about to do. At that moment I became intensely conscious of the fact that no dream, no matter how horrible, could be as bad as the reality of the camp which surrounded us, and to which I was about to recall him.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Viktor E. 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