Man's Search for Meaning

"Freedom, however, is not the last word. Freedom is only part of the story and half of the truth."

"A man who becomes conscious of the responsibility he bears toward a human being who loves him, or to any human being whose fate depends upon him, and who is aware that his life will end—that man will find life has meaning."

"What man actually needs is not a tensionless state but rather a striving and struggling for some goal worthy of him."

"The meaning of life differs from man to man, from day to day and from hour to hour."

"Life is not primarily a quest for pleasure, as Freud believed; it is a quest for meaning."

"Those who have a 'why' to live can bear with almost any 'how.'"

"Between stimulus and response there is a space. In that space is our power to choose our response."

"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."

"When we are no longer able to change a situation, we are challenged to change ourselves."

"The only way to deal with an unfree world is to become so absolutely free that very existence itself is an act of rebellion."

"We are not here to question the meaning of life, but to realize we are questioned by life."

"Freedom is not the absence of constraints but the ability to choose our response to them."

"The future is not determined; it is created by the meaning we assign to our present."

"Every person has the capacity to find meaning, regardless of circumstance."

"Finding meaning in suffering transforms the nature of the suffering itself."

"Our attitude is the one thing we can always control."

"The search for meaning is more fundamental than the pursuit of pleasure or power."

"Suffering is only meaningful when we choose to make it so."

"The greatest freedom is the freedom to choose our attitude in the face of adversity."

"We are responsible for our lives, whether we admit it or not."

"Life is not fair, but meaning can be found even in unfair circumstances."

"A person who knows the 'why' for his existence is able to bear almost any 'how.'"

"Even the briefest moment in the concentration camp could give one's life a new meaning."

"The meaning of life is found in every moment of living."

"When we cannot change our external circumstances, we are given the opportunity to change ourselves."

"I recommend that the Statue of Liberty on the East Coast be supplemented by a Statue of Responsibility."

"The one thing you can't take away from me is the way I choose to respond to what you do to me."

"Success cannot be pursued; it must ensue from meaningful goals."

"When a person cannot find a deep sense of meaning, they distract themselves with pleasure."

"Meaning can be found through creative work, through nature, and through our attitude toward unavoidable suffering."