Top 10 Quotes by Viktor E. Frankl

Viktor E. Frankl (1905–1997) was an Austrian neurologist, psychiatrist, and Holocaust survivor who founded logotherapy, a form of existential analysis. His most famous work, "Man's Search for Meaning," chronicles his experiences in Nazi concentration camps and outlines his psychological approach, which emphasizes finding meaning in all forms of existence, even the most brutal. Frankl's theory posits that the primary drive in human beings is not pleasure, as Freud suggested, but the pursuit of meaning. He believed that individuals could endure immense suffering if they could find a purpose in it. His work has had a profound impact on psychology and psychotherapy.

Top 10 Quotes by Viktor E. Frankl

1. "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."
— Viktor E. Frankl

2. "When we are no longer able to change a situation, we are challenged to change ourselves."
— Viktor E. Frankl

3. "Those who have a 'why' to live, can bear with almost any 'how'."
— Viktor E. Frankl

4. "Happiness cannot be pursued; it must ensue."
— Viktor E. Frankl

5. "Life is never made unbearable by circumstances, but only by lack of meaning and purpose."
— Viktor E. Frankl

6. "Between stimulus and response there is a space. In that space is our power to choose our response. In our response lies our growth and our freedom."
— Viktor E. Frankl

7. "Forces beyond your control can take away everything you possess except one thing, your freedom to choose how you will respond to the situation."
— Viktor E. Frankl

8. "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."
— Viktor E. Frankl

9. "What is demanded of man is not, as some existential philosophers teach, to endure the meaninglessness of life, but rather to bear his incapacity to grasp its unconditional meaningfulness in rational terms."
— Viktor E. Frankl

10. "Everyone has his own specific vocation or mission in life; everyone must carry out a concrete assignment that demands fulfillment. Therein he cannot be replaced, nor can his life be repeated."
— Viktor E. Frankl