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 PyjamasA 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 … 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.
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Amazing insights.
This is a must read book for all.
One of the worlds great pieces of wisdom out of the greatest of tragedies.
Those of us who grew up in the baby boom generation,have no idea of the horror o of W W I I and the atrocities of the Holocaust.Even the men who served in the U.S.army didn’t talk about it until many years later on.U.S.soldiers of German descent were often treated with undeserved maliciosnous.My father was one of those brave men.
A critically important book which should probably be read by all thoughtful people
Greta book if you’re feeling depressed and/or need a little guidance.
Helped me get through Marine Corps boot camp.
Very intelligent and inspiring.
A way of looking at the world and becoming better no matter what your fate is.
Frankl is a must read. His story is timeless, and the experience of his role as a medical aid and prisoner in some of the worst Nazi concentration camps is profound. His personal loss and survival, coupled with the images forever etched in his mind–now etched in mine, led to a unique therapy after his survival.
The moment when he realizes in the shower that he and his fellow prisoners are at absolute zero, nothing to take with them from their past, is just breathtaking. Reminds me of the incredible perspective found in When Breath Becomes Air (written by a cancer surgeon fighting and losing his life to the horrible disease), Dr. Frankl sees this horrendous experience from the eyes of a brilliant Psychiatrist.
The key finding is the essence of what allowed some to survive the holocaust, while others lost the will to live. A Life-changing read!
A wonderful read from tragedy to prevelance. A book that You will want to read once a year.
This is one of the best and most helpful books I have ever read. I first came across it in graduate school and have continued to re-read it every few years. Dr. Frankl was a concentration camp survivor and psychiatrist who developed a therapy based on helping people uncover the meaning in their lives. Brilliant man, inspirational book. Highly recommended.
This book could change your life!
This is the account of a psychiatrist who was incarcerated in concentration camps in the 1940’s. He gives an account of the physical trials, the mental trials and the spiritual trials of a circumstance most of us can not imagine. His account leaves one with hope and not despair.
This is a book that needs to be read and then re-read every five years or so.
I knew little of Viktor E Frankl until recently. The book came as a recommendation from a relative who received the book as a gift, during a very difficult time in his life. I then read a news article on Viktor Frankl and read that as a Jewish psychiatrist in Vienna, he established suicide-prevention centers for teenagers, trying to help them find their unique meaning in life. It’s hard to argue with a book that has 12 million copies in print. It’s a quick read, and is genuine, not preachy, and introspective. He writes of his time and observations in Auschwitz, where he saw the worst of life, and still some who chose to live. ” . . . 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.”
I had this book for a bit and then one day the time was just right to read it. If you feel your life is tough then read this. I have so many books that make me so appreciate what I have. Thank you Viktor Frankl and again Dr. Wayne Dyer for the recommendation.
The outcome of many a debate is determined in advance by the opening presumption. For example, do we assume a proposition is correct and require evidence against or assume it is false and require evidence in favor?
Viktor Frankl’s genius consists of applying this principle to the question of the meaning of life. In MAN’S SEARCH FOR MEANING, he proposed that we should not demand meaning from life, but rather recognize that life demands meaning from us.
More than that, since the meaning of life differs from man to man, from day to day and even from hour to hour, what matters is not the meaning of life in general but rather the specific meaning of a person’s particular life at a given moment. And from this it follows that each person has his own specific vocation in life and must carry out a concrete mission. In that special assignment he cannot be replaced.
Even under the tyranny of the Nazi death camps, where Frankl was a prisoner for nearly four years (described in Part One of the book), or the Soviet Gulag, where almost everything could be taken from a person, Frankl insisted that one thing remained, the last of human freedoms: the ability to chose one’s attitude under any circumstances.
For me, reading MAN’S SEARCH FOR MEANING as a young man was a life-changing experience. It settled in my mind the question of determinism vs. free will. It established for me a working hypothesis that my life could be pulled by goals as well as pushed by drives. As Frankl points out, between stimulus and response there is a space. In that space lies our power to choose our response and in that choice lies our growth and freedom. In short, it doesn’t matter what we expect from life but rather what life expects from us.
In my opinion, MAN’S SEARCH FOR MEANING should be on the core reading list of every American who aims to preserve human freedom and dignity.
NOTE: For anyone facing an existential crisis, I recommend Frankl’s speech to fellow concentration camp inmates in the winter of 1944-1945, which can be found on pages 102-105 of the book.
Frankl was a young Jewish psychiatrist who survived the death camps. His observations of his fellows and how they chose to react under unthinkable circumstances was, amazingly, an exhilarating rather than a devastating reading experience. I underlined the hell out of this little book. One of many fervent underscores: “…any man can. even under such circumstances, decide what shall become of him — mentally and spiritually.” So, we choose life, and choose how to live it.
This book made/allowed me to realize the importance of my life’s choices, even the little ones, and to be proud of my life’s circumstances: caring for my dogs, my husband, even to deciding the next book to read. OK, my husband, my dogs…..
Mr. Frankl’s logo therapy appears to be as relevant today as it was when he was studying/writing the subject in the late 1930’s through his death. His personal story and insights are indeed tragic and inspirational.