Viktor Frankl

"It is our decisions that make us who we are, and nothing more."

"The will to meaning is the most human of all human phenomena."

"Even the helpless victim of a hopeless situation is free to choose his attitude toward his fate."

"An achievement can be made, a deed can be done, but we cannot feel a feeling."

"Self-transcendence should be a primary motivation—to go beyond yourself to find meaning."

"When life seems unbearable, the thought that it has meaning is often what sustains us."

"One should as a rule respect public opinion in so far as is necessary to avoid starvation and to keep out of prison."

"Fear is the price we pay for our freedom; the greater the freedom, the greater the fear."

"The true meaning of life is to be discovered in the world rather than within man."

"Fundamentally, therefore, any man can, even under the most constrained circumstances, decide what his life is to have been."

"Human kindness does not belong to those who are constantly vigilant against it."

"There is nothing in the world that would so effectively help one to survive, even the worst conditions, as the knowledge that his life has a meaning."

"No group and no government can decree that to be truth which the human soul knows to be false."

"The fact that life is difficult must only convince us how much we need to find its meaning."

"Man's search for meaning is the primary human motivation."

"In some ways suffering ceases to be suffering the moment it finds a meaning, such as the meaning of a sacrifice."

"The task is to recognize the unique opportunity embedded in each challenge we face."

"What matters is not what happens to us, but how we choose to respond to what happens."

"Logotherapy is the courage to see what the future might hold when we live with purpose."

"We should never forget that we can endure much more than we think we can."

"Happiness is like a shadow—follow it and it eludes you; turn your attention elsewhere and it follows you."

"The greatest task for any person is to find meaning in their own existence."

"Freedom is in no way the last word. Freedom is only part of the story and half of the truth."

"When facing a dire circumstance, one retains the freedom to choose their inner attitude."

"The ability to choose our attitude is what separates us from mere circumstance."

"It is human nature to look for meaning, even in the darkest of places."

"Our work should be a reflection of what gives our lives meaning and purpose."

"The one thing we cannot be robbed of is our ability to choose how we respond."

"Everything depends on our choice of whether to understand a situation as a tragedy or as a challenge."

"Men's search for meaning is the greatest force motivating human life."