Viktor E. Frankl: Meaning of Life

       Viktor Emil Frankl M.D., Ph.D. (1905-1997) was an Austrian neurologist and psychiatrist. Frankl was the founder of logotherapy. Logotherapy, from the Greek word logos, which can mean study, word, spirit, God, or meaning.  It is this last sense Frankl focusses on, although the other meanings are never far off. The Logotherapy postulates a will to meaning. This belief sustained Frankl during his imprisonment, something he wrote about in his epic work of survival literature called Man’s Search for Meaning. It gives you a quick introduction to a man who, despite personally confronting the worst humanity had to offer, still believed in our core goodness and possibilities.

Viktor E. Frankl Quotes

A human being is a deciding being.

Challenging the meaning of life is the truest expression of the state of being human.

Between stimulus and response is the freedom to choose.

We can discover this meaning in life in three different ways: (1) by doing a deed; (2) by experiencing a value; and (3) by suffering.

Ultimately, man should not ask what the meaning of his life is, but rather must recognize that it is he who is asked. In a word, each man is questioned by life; and he can only answer to life by answering for his own life; to life he can only respond by being responsible.

Ever more people today have the means to live, but no meaning to live for.