Last night I was finished with a very meaningful, purposeful book by Viktor E.Frankl named "Man's search for meaning".
The book depicts his experiences as a prisoner in Nazi concentration camps during World War II and describes his psychotherapeutic method which involved identifying a purpose in life to feel positively about, and then immersively imagining that outcome.
According to Frankl, the way a prisoner imagined the future affected his longevity. The book intends to answer the question "How was everyday life in a concentration camp reflected in the mind of the average prisoner?"
Part One constitutes Frankl's analysis of his experiences in the concentration camps, while Part Two introduces his ideas of meaning and his theory called logotherapy.
I am sure I will read this book again in 3 extreme occasions: when in pain, when feel guilty, when in faced with death. These are actually the combo 3 life tragedies that the writer raises in his book.
He says, human has the power to choose to convert those 3 tragedies into other 3:
- turn pain into maturity and achievement
- turn guilty feeling into the chance to improve personality
- turn the transient of life into encouragement of responsible acts
Here are other quotes from the book that I wanna share:
“When we are no longer able to change a situation, we are challenged to change ourselves.”
“An abnormal reaction to an abnormal situation is normal behavior.”
“In some ways suffering ceases to be suffering at the moment it finds a meaning, such as the meaning of a sacrifice.” “Happiness cannot be pursued; it must ensue.”
“It is not freedom from conditions, but it is freedom to take a stand toward the conditions.”
Dostoevski said once, "There is only one thing I dread: not to be worthy of my sufferings"
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