I have just started reading "Man's search for meaning" by Viktor Frankl, a psychiatrist and a II WW holocaust survivor. In the book, he writes about his experiences in the Auschwitz concentration camp and what made people to withstand and survive the terrible experiences - he says whoever had a "Why", a reason to survive had higher chances of survival than those who had lost hopes in between. He willed himself of coming out and teaching psychiatry. He chose to go to prison with his elderly parents, having his US visa lapsed.
He says: "Everything can be taken from a man but one thing: the last of the human freedoms; to choose one's own attitude in any given set of circumstances, to choose one's way".
There are multiple views of what makes a life: Life is a pursuit of happiness; Life is a pursuit of success. In Viktor Frankl's view, life is a pursuit of meaning. And that meaning, the reason gives the life the support and balance to survive despite the circumstances. If you have a "why", "how" does not really matter. He writes, "Life is never made unbearable by circumstances, but only by lack of meaning and purpose."
I have not completed the book in full. Will update more as I progress and finish.
He says: "Everything can be taken from a man but one thing: the last of the human freedoms; to choose one's own attitude in any given set of circumstances, to choose one's way".
There are multiple views of what makes a life: Life is a pursuit of happiness; Life is a pursuit of success. In Viktor Frankl's view, life is a pursuit of meaning. And that meaning, the reason gives the life the support and balance to survive despite the circumstances. If you have a "why", "how" does not really matter. He writes, "Life is never made unbearable by circumstances, but only by lack of meaning and purpose."
I have not completed the book in full. Will update more as I progress and finish.
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