Viktor E. Frankl

This author's memoir has riveted generations of readers with its descriptions of life in Nazi death camps and its lessons for spiritual survival. Based on his own experience and the stories of his patients, he argues that we cannot avoid suffering but we can choose how to cope with it, find meaning in it, and move forward. At the heart of his theory, known as logotherapy, is a conviction that the primary human drive is not pleasure but the pursuit of what we find meaningful. This book has become one of the most influential books in America; it continues to inspire us all to find significance in the very act of living.

Man's Search for Meaning

Martyna Melania Anastasia

If there is a meaning in life at all, then there must be a meaning in suffering. Suffering is an ineradicable part of life. Without suffering and death, human life cannot be complete.

We who lived in concentration camps can remember the men who walked through the huts comforting others, giving away their last piece of bread. They may have been few in number, but they offer sufficient proof that everything can be taken from a man but one thing: the last of human freedoms - to choose one’s attitude in any given set of circumstances, to choose one’s own way.

The salvation of man is through love and in love. I understood how a man who has nothing left in this world still may know bliss, be it only for a brief moment, in contemplation of his beloved. For the first time in my life I was able to understand the meaning of the words, „The angels are lost in perpetual contemplation of an infinite glory“.

For the first time in my life I saw the truth as it is set into song by so many poets, proclaimed as the final wisdom by so many thinkers. The truth - that love is the ultimate and highest goal to which man can aspire.

Success, like happiness, cannot be pursued; it must ensue, and it only does so as the unintended side effect of one’s dedication to a cause greater than oneself or as the by-product of one’s surrender to a person other than oneself.

Francesco

 preserve a vestige of spiritual freedom, of independence of mind, even in such terrible conditions of psychic and physical stress.

We who lived in concentration camps can remember the man who walked through the huts comforting others, giving away their last piece of bread. They may have been few in numbers, but they offer sufficient proof that everything can be taken from a man but one thing - to choose one's attitude in any given set of circumstances, to choose one's own way.

We had all once been or had fancied ourselves to be "somebody". Now we were treated like complete nonentities. (The consciousness of one's inner value is anchored in higher, more spiritual things, and cannot be shaken by camp life. But how many free man, let alone prisoners, possess it?)

The attempt to develop a sense of humor and to see things in a humorous light is some kind of a trick learned while mastering the art of living. Yet it is possible to practice the art of living even in a concentration camp, although suffering issues omni-present.

Ali Angco

You may be prone to blame me for invoking examples that are the exceptions to the rule. “Sed omnia praeclara tam difficilia quam rara sunt” (but everything great is just as difficult to realize as it is rare to find) reads the last sentence of the Ethics of Spinoza. You may of course ask whether we really need to refer to “saints.” Wouldn’t it suffice just to refer to decent people? It is true that they form a minority. More than that, they always will remain a minority. And yet I see therein the very challenge to join the minority. For the world is in a bad state, but everything will become still worse unless each of us does his best.

El Hombre En Busca del Sentido

Magaly Belmontes

“Vive como si ya estuvieras viviendo por segunda vez y como si la primera vez ya hubieras obrado tan desacertadamente como ahora estás a punto de obrar”

Mans Search for Meaning

Sudhanva Paturkar

He who has a why to live for can bear almost any how 

“It did not really matter what we expected from life, but rather what life expected from us.”

A prominent Viennese psychiatrist recounts his experiences in a Nazi concentration camp that led to the development of his existentialist approach to psychotherapy.

Laura Mei

If one cannot change a situation that causes his suffering, he can still choose his attitude.

In accepting this challenge to suffer bravely, life has a meaning up to the last moment, and it retains this meaning literally to the end. In other words, life's meaning is an unconditional one, for it even includes the potential meaning of unavoidable suffering.

Not only our experiences, but all we have done, whatever great thoughts we have had, and all we have suffered, all this is not lost, though it is past; we have brought it into being. Having been is also a kind of being and perhaps the surest kind.

We needed to stop asking about the meaning of life, and instead to think of ourselves as those who were being questioned by life — daily and hourly. Our answer must consist, not in talk and meditation, but in right action and right conduct. Life ultimately means taking responsibility to find the right answer to its problems and to fulfill the tasks which it constantly sets for each individual. These tasks, and therefore the meaning of life, differ from man to man, and from moment to moment.

windy

Is it not conceivable that there is still another dinmension, a world beyond man's wvorld; a world in which the question of an ultimate meaning of human suffering would find an answer?

jenna de nobrega 

to live is to suffer, to survive is to find meaning in the suffering

Viennese psychiatrist tells his grim experiences in a German concentration camp which led him to logotherapy, an existential method of psychiatry.

Edward Steel

Helps to see light when you feel lost in the tunnel of life.

Raadeem Pierre

I thought it was just another self help book, but it really pushed beyond that. There's so many layers to its meaning. Banger book.

Roseanne

A great book! I understand the hype. It’s been my introduction to logotherapy which is super interesting and worth researching. I’ve been thinking a lot about a line from the book, which is actually a quote. “Schopenhauer said mankind was apparently doomed to vasilate eternally between the two extremes of distress and boredom.” Would recommend.

Bailey Scott

This is the kind of book that only exist once in a lifetime. His experience at Nazi concentration camp is filled with so many realizations about life, suffering, and purpose. Paired with his knowledge of psychology, makes this book full of insights about the human conscience. 

This book has managed to make me cry of cold tears and think about it years later after I read it. Truly profound.

catto fishu

This is the kind of book that only exist once in a lifetime. His experience at Nazi concentration camp is filled with so many realizations about life, suffering, and purpose. Paired with his knowledge of psychology, makes this book full of insights about the human conscience. 

This book has managed to make me cry of cold tears and think about it years later after I read it. Truly profound.

a surreptitiously beautiful book. everyone should read this once in their lifetime. no book could come close to this i think <3

drowsydove

Classic Editions

The author shares his experience surviving the holocaust, and his learnings about logotherapy. Where psychotherapy aims to resolves deep conflicts and emotions, logotherapy focuses on finding meaning in life (even during the tough periods). Good read but took some time to digest.

Natasha Mok

Timeo Williams

The first half details his experience in a concentration camp. The second part is his life afterwards diagnosing individuals and his experience thereof.

16 MILLION COPIES SOLD 'A book to read, to cherish, to debate, and one that will ultimately keep the memories of the victims alive' John Boyne, author of The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas A prominent Viennese psychiatrist before the war, Viktor Frankl was uniquely able to observe the way that both he and others in Auschwitz coped (or didn't) with the experience. He noticed that it was the men who comforted others and who gave away their last piece of bread who survived the longest - and who offered proof that everything can be taken away from us except the ability to choose our attitude in any given set of circumstances. The sort of person the concentration camp prisoner became was the result of an inner decision and not of camp influences alone. Frankl came to believe man's deepest desire is to search for meaning and purpose. This outstanding work offers us all a way to transcend suffering and find significance in the art of living.

The Classic Tribute to Hope from the Holocaust

Reiza H

Selalu menarik mengetahui bahwa manusia bisa menciptakan makna akan keberadaannya di dunia. 

Tingkatan paling dasar akan makna keberadaan kita di dunia, kalau kita melihat hanya dari kacamata biologis, adalah untuk berprokreasi. Melanjutkan garis keturunan. Tapi apa hanya itu?

Di sini masuklah peran akal dan hati. Dua hal itulah yang membedakan kita dan makhluk hidup lainnya. Kita diberikan akal serta hati sebagai penyeimbang, tidak hanya sekedar insting untuk bertahan hidup dan melanjutkan garis keturunan. 

Victor Frankl, sebagai seorang psikiater dan juga seorang penyintas dari kamp konsentrasi Nazi selama tiga tahun, menuangkan pikiran-pikirannya akan makna hidup lewat gabungan dari kemampuan manusia untuk berpikir, merasakan dan memaknai, ke dalam buku ini. Lewat logotherapy, sebuah cabang ilmu psikiatri, ia menekankan bahwa manusia memiliki kehendak dan kebebasan untuk menentukan makna hidupnya sendiri, bahkan di situasi penuh kesengsaraan sekalipun.

Sedikit banyak, ini mengingatkanku akan Filsafat Stoisisme.

“Everything can be taken from a man but one thing, the last of the human freedoms, to choose one’s attitude in any given set of circumstances.”

Elisavet Rozaki 

Powerful first half, but the rest didn't touch me at all.

elizabeth

It's an awfully short book to dig into the meaning of life, but I'll make it even shorter for you with a quick excerpt:

"We needed to stop asking about the meaning of life, and instead to think of ourselves as those who were being questioned by life—daily and hourly. Our answer must consist, not in talk and meditation, but in right action and in right conduct. Life ultimately means taking the responsibility to find the right answer to its problems and to fulfil the tasks which it constantly sets for each individual."

I think I mostly like the conclusions Frankl reaches, and I have no business saying he's wrong about anything; in fact, I pretty much just have an aversion to the idea that life is oriented toward any "right answer."

The first part of the book is a sort of memoir and it's super emotionally impactful, while the second half of the book on logotherapy becomes more philosophical.

I could see this being deeply impactful when assigned to high school students or something--I feel like it would've been pretty life-changey to me as a teenager.

Ankit Panchal

Happiness cannot be pursued; it must ensue.

Must read!

siegs

pretty dark and depressing at times, but a real taste of the environment and psychology one man went through during the holocaust. definitely good for perspective building.

maitha mana

Truly one of the best reads out there. Viktor's way of sharing his stories makes it relatable to every human being and not necessarily victims of the holocaust. The book is divided into two parts: the tragedy and the "cure" if you will. The cure being a psychological aspect known as Logotherapy. At a time and place where names were taken away and replaced with a unique code; however, this book reveals that everything can be taken away except for the memories and experiences one owns prior to the misery. I highly recommend this book and will definitely re-read it over and over again.

"He who has a why to live for can bear with almost any how." -Friedrich Nietzsche

Something that I would read over and over again. I appreciate that it's a short book yet has lots of gems in it. 

I can see myself picking this up every year as a way to reflect and reconnect with myself.

Something that I would read over and over again. I appreciate that it's a short book yet has lots of gems in it. 

I can see myself picking this up every year as a way to reflect and reconnect with myself.

membantu coping existential crisis sekalii TT

gabby

Good book. Part I was my favorite. Afterwards, I couldn’t pay attention as well.

ahmed

My 2nd read at the start of the new year.
I should probably try to read a 3rd time next year, maybe.
The mix of the human experience, the perspective of a psychiatrist and Logotherapy is worth going over couple of times.

Rithwik Jayasimha

I discovered this book during a particularly low point in my life, while I was dealing with quite a few things, really, a point when I felt lost and quite alone in life. This book has had an impact on me in a highly unorthodox way—by putting things into perspective, against the backplane of one of the most tragic events in human history.
In a truly perverse manner, Frankl's writing takes a 'show rather than tell' approach—and what a story it tells. The singular truth you will take away is a realization that the only way to make it through the bleakest moments of your existence is to seek out a reason to be, for with one, you can find almost any way to endure the how. However obvious that may seem (and it is,really) the baggage that this book comes with provides ample study for you to mentally simulate and draw parallels with yourself.
This is not the first account of the Holocaust that I've read, but in a way, it has been the most raw—told from the perspective of a former victim, life becomes a cruel game of luck. The whimsical, utterly senseless nature of the events, each reconstructed with a scientific detachment, each have a deep lesson that comes with the shock that accompanies.
To find the strength, the resolve to persevere and find a meaning in life through it all is as much a lesson to humanity as it is a testament to the incredible strength these survivors possessed, to not just survive, but find a meaning to life that kept them going. 

In conclusion, this is perhaps one of the few books you can go into with expectations and still come away stunned—maybe even reeling from what you discover not just about man, but yourself.

LOVED the first part of the book. He described his experiences with incredible insight. I was unable to read the second part, the analysis, as it felt more like a textbook than anything, which was not what I was looking to read…

Sarah Panek

Joshua Edward Gibson-Altrock

A powerful story of the way our response to life may hold the meaning we are searching for in that life. This book also contains some of the most heart-wrenching love stories I have ever read. It is an eloquent reminder of both the atrocities and immense courage that occupied the death camps of WWII. 

My favorite quotes and excerpts: 

"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." - p. 37

"...everything can be taken from a man but one thing: the last of the human freedoms - to choose one's attitude in any given set of circumstances, to choose one's own way." - p. 66

"The way in which a man accepts his fate and all the suffering it entails, the way in which he takes up his cross, gives him ample opportunity - even under the most difficult circumstances - to add a deeper meaning to his life." - p. 67

"Suffering had become a task on which we did not want to turn our backs. We had realized its hidden opportunities for achievement..." - p. 78 

"Once, an elderly general practitioner consulted me because of his severe depression. He could not overcome the loss of his wife... [I] confronted him with the question, "What would have happened, Doctor, if you had died first, and your wife would have had to survive you?" "Oh," he said, "for her this would have been terrible..." "You see, Doctor, such a suffering has been spared her, and it was you who have spared her this suffering." - p. 112-113

Marga Camps

Fácil de leer y con la parte experiencial de los campos de concentración que convierte su explicación en muchísimo más completa y entendible de donde sale. Te hace conectar mucho más.

Ryan Haber

Fantastic. "Man's Search for Meaning" is not a guide to life and it doesn't reveal the meaning of life. 

The book does make a sound defense of why life must have *meaning* and therefore cannot be a primarily material concern. This can be taken as a complement or correction of Maslow's approach. To simplify Maslow's understanding: food, clothing, shelter, and the like are primary, with things like meaning and social acceptance serving as icing on the cake. Against this, Frankl gives his experience in the Nazi camps: meaning and mission make things like shelter either happen or not matter.

In my own experience, material considerations can buffer us against suffering to some extent. In the end, though, with our defenses breached, we will be swept away by the tide of suffering like sandcastles, unless we understand and embrace the purpose of our life.

The longer I wait to write a review, the more the book has impacted me. I feel like my subconscious is still working through the stories and concepts in this book.

The two main parts of the book — the anecdotes and analyses from the concentration camps, and the development of logotherapy partially as a result of the former — served different purposes for me.

I've read several books that try to elucidate the horrors and sorrows of Auschwitz. They're emotive and have a story arch. This works to draw readers in and allow them to settle into the setting. But I enjoyed how analytical Man's Search for Meaning was. It used examples to support the main arguments which were about how the inmates feel. Frankl effectively addressed some of the hardest questions to answer (emotionally and scientifically): "How can one person become so brutal to another person especially when they originated from the same status and community?", "Why do inmates choose to commit suicide?", "How do people become numb over time?", "What role does love play in staying hopeful?", "Why does humor arise amidst suffering?". I thoroughly enjoyed the analytical lens.

Logotherapy is compared to psychoanalysis, but it is an addition. Logotherapy looks to the future while psychoanalysis looks to the past. In looking to the future, a person tries to find meaning. Meaning can manifest in three ways: 1) through doing work or a deed, 2) through an experience or loving someone, 3) through accepting and finding purpose in suffering. The best example that Frankl uses for concreteness is that if you find that your meaning of life is loving someone (the second bucket), but the beloved passes away, then you would find yourself in the third bucket. You will think that your suffering has spared your beloved and you will come to accept and grow in your grief.

A related concept he brings up is "paradoxical intention" where fearing something will bring upon that very thing being feared, while excessively desiring something will circumvent that something to happen. I relate to the hyper intention part a lot. Frankl suggests that a remedy would be to acknowledge the hyper intention, draw out the fear parallel to the desire, and will that fear to happen. I will try to implement this in my life.

I have a lot of respect for Frankl to have seen through all the pain to know that he must use his experience to develop knowledge for psychotherapy.

Xin Ma

The longer I wait to write a review, the more the book has impacted me. I feel like my subconscious is still working through the stories and concepts in this book.

The two main parts of the book — the anecdotes and analyses from the concentration camps, and the development of logotherapy partially as a result of the former — served different purposes for me.

First part:
I've read several books that try to elucidate the horrors and sorrows of Auschwitz. They're emotive and have a story arch. This works to draw readers in and allow them to settle into the setting. But I enjoyed how analytical Man's Search for Meaning was. It used examples to support the main arguments which were about how the inmates feel. Frankl effectively addressed some of the hardest questions to answer (emotionally and scientifically): "How can one person become so brutal to another person especially when they originated from the same status and community?", "Why do inmates choose to commit suicide?", "How do people become numb over time?", "What role does love play in staying hopeful?", "Why does humor arise amidst suffering?". I thoroughly enjoyed the analytical lens.

Second part:
Logotherapy is compared to psychoanalysis, but it is an addition. Logotherapy looks to the future while psychoanalysis looks to the past. In looking to the future, a person tries to find meaning. Meaning can manifest in three ways: 1) through doing work or a deed, 2) through an experience or loving someone, 3) through accepting and finding purpose in suffering. The best example that Frankl uses for concreteness is that if you find that your meaning of life is loving someone (the second bucket), but the beloved passes away, then you would find yourself in the third bucket. You will think that your suffering has spared your beloved and you will come to accept and grow in your grief.
A related concept he brings up is "paradoxical intention" where fearing something will bring upon that very thing being feared, while excessively desiring something will circumvent that something to happen. I relate to the hyper intention part a lot. Frankl suggests that a remedy would be to acknowledge the hyper intention, draw out the fear parallel to the desire, and will that fear to happen. I will try to implement this in my life.

I have a lot of respect for Frankl to have seen through all the pain to know that he must use his experience to develop knowledge for psychotherapy.

Understood that he who has a why can endure any how, or something like that. The message is awesome and the narrative first half of the book nicely intertwines psychology and storytelling. I was lost for most of the second half. 

Man's Search for Meaning

Reviews

Highlights