Man's Search For Meaning - Viktor E. Frankl

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MAN'S SEARCH FOR MEANINGmake-up often seemed to survive camp life better thandid those of a robust nature. In order to make myselfclear, I am forced to fall back on personal experience.Let me tell what happened on those early morningswhen we had to march to our work site.There were shouted commands: "Detachment, forwardmarch! Left-2-3-4! Left-2-3-4! Left-2-3-4! Left-2-3-4! First man about, left and left and left and left!Caps off!" These words sound in my ears even now.At the order "Caps off!" we passed the gate of thecamp, and searchlights were trained upon us. Whoeverdid not march smartly got a kick. And worse offwas the man who, because of the cold, had pulled hiscap back over his ears before permission was given.We stumbled on in the darkness, over big stones andthrough large puddles, along the one road leading fromthe camp. The accompanying guards kept shouting atus and driving us with the butts of their rifles. Anyonewith very sore feet supported himself on his neighbor'sarm. Hardly a word was spoken; the icy wind didnot encourage talk. Hiding his mouth behind his upturnedcollar, the man marching next to me whisperedsuddenly: "If our wives could see us now! I do hopethey are better off in their camps and don't know whatis happening to us."That brought thoughts of my own wife to mind. Andas we stumbled on for miles, slipping on icy spots,supporting each other time and again, dragging oneanother up and onward, nothing was said, but we bothknew: each of us was thinking of his wife. OccasionallyI looked at the sky, where the stars were fadingand the pink light of the morning was beginning tospread behind a dark bank of clouds. But my mind56
EXPERIENCES IN A CONCENTRATION CAMPclung to my wife's image, imagining it with an uncannyacuteness. I heard her answering me, saw her smile,her frank and encouraging look. Real or not, her lookwas then more luminous than the sun which wasbeginning to rise.A thought transfixed me: for the first time in my life Isaw the truth as it is set into song by so many poets,proclaimed as the final wisdom by so many thinkers.The truth - that love is the ultimate and the highestgoal to which man can aspire. Then I grasped themeaning of the greatest secret that human poetry andhuman thought and belief have to impart: The salvationof man is through love and in love. I understoodhow a man who has nothing left in this world still mayknow bliss, be it only for a brief moment, in thecontemplation of his beloved. In a position of utterdesolation, when man cannot express himself in positiveaction, when his only achievement may consist inenduring his sufferings in the right way - an honorableway - in such a position man can, through lovingcontemplation of the image he carries of his beloved,achieve fulfillment. <strong>For</strong> the first time in my life I wasable to understand the meaning of the words, "Theangels are lost in perpetual contemplation of an infiniteglory."In front of me a man stumbled and those followinghim fell on top of him. The guard rushed over and usedhis whip on them all. Thus my thoughts were interruptedfor a few minutes. But soon my soul found itsway back from the prisoner's existence to anotherworld, and I resumed talk with my loved one: I askedher questions, and she answered; she questioned me inreturn, and I answered.57
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"IF YOU READ BUT ONE BOOK THISYEAR,
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First published in Austria in 1946,
Page 9: ContentsPreface by Gordon W. Allpor
Page 12 and 13: PREFACEpecting extermination - how
Page 14 and 15: PREFACEcontinue to grow in spite of
Page 17 and 18: Preface to the1984 EditionTHIS BOOK
Page 19: PREFACE TO THE 1984 EDITIONat succe
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EXPERIENCES IN A CONCENTRATION CAMP
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READERS OF MY SHORT AUTOBIOGRAPHICA
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LOGOTHERAPY IN A NUTSHELLLet me exp
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LOGOTHERAPY IN A NUTSHELLEXISTENTIA
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LOGOTHERAPY IN A NUTSHELLtorn of ne
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LOGOTHERAPY IN A NUTSHELLjotted dow
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LOGOTHERAPY IN A NUTSHELLA statisti
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LOGOTHERAPY IN A NUTSHELLto man, fr
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LOGOTHERAPY IN A NUTSHELLbroadening
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LOGOTHERAPY IN A NUTSHELLTHE MEANIN
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LOGOTHERAPY IN A NUTSHELLto conside
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LOGOTHERAPY IN A NUTSHELLA LOGODRAM
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LOGOTHERAPY IN A NUTSHELLi.e., the
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LOGOTHERAPY IN A NUTSHELLthat God p
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LOGOTHERAPY IN A NUTSHELLLOGOTHERAP
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LOGOTHERAPY IN A NUTSHELLcal intent
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LOGOTHERAPY IN A NUTSHELLobservatio
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LOGOTHERAPY IN A NUTSHELLto whom pa
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LOGOTHERAPY IN A NUTSHELLcontempora
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LOGOTHERAPY IN A NUTSHELLWhen the N
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LOGOTHERAPY IN A NUTSHELLmedicine b
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Dedicated to the memory of Edith We
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THE CASE FOR A TRAGIC OPTIMISMcally
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THE CASE FOR A TRAGIC OPTIMISMthat
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THE CASE FOR A TRAGIC OPTIMISMexpla
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THE CASE FOR A TRAGIC OPTIMISMcrete
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THE CASE FOR A TRAGIC OPTIMISMoppor
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THE CASE FOR A TRAGIC OPTIMISMneck,
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THE CASE FOR A TRAGIC OPTIMISMThe t
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THE CASE FOR A TRAGIC OPTIMISMtrans
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THE CASE FOR A TRAGIC OPTIMISMYou m
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BIBLIOGRAPHYexpanded edition, 1965;
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BIBLIOGRAPHYTechniques, Usuf Harima
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BIBLIOGRAPHYtherapy Tape Library (T
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ABOUT THE AUTHORVIKTOR E. FRANKL is
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