from Vicktor Frankl's "Man's Search for Meaning"

"Love goes very far beyond the physical person of the beloved. It finds its deepest meaning in her spiritual being, her inner self. Whether or not she is actually present, whether or not she is still alive at all, ceases somehow to be of importance."
--pg 38

"...being human always points, and is directed, to something, or someone, other than oneself -- be it a meaning to fulfill or another human being to encounter. The more one forgets himself -- by giving himself to a cause to serve or another person to love -- the more human he is...

Love is the only way to grasp another human being in the innermost core of her personality. No one can become fully aware of the very essence of another human being unless he loves her. By his love he is enabled to see the essential traits and features in the beloved person; and even more, he sees that which is potential in her..."
--pg 110-111

"And there were always choices to make. Every day, every hour, offered the opportunity to make a decision, a decision which determined whether you would or would not submit to those powers which threatened to rob you of your very self, you inner freedom; which determined whether or not you would become the plaything of circumstance, renouncing freedom and dignity to become molded into the form of the typical..."
--pg 66

"Fundamentally, therefore, any man.... may retain his human dignity even in a concentration camp. Dostoevski said once, 'There is only one thing I dread: not to be worthy of my sufferings.'"
--pg 66

quoting Nietzsche: "He who has a why to life for can bear with almost any how."
--pg 76

"I think it was Lessing who once said, 'There are things which must cause you to lose your reason or you have none to lose.' An abnormal reaction to an abnormal situation is normal behavior."
--pg 20


2006 beacon press edition