Viktor Emil Frankl was an Austrian neurologist and psychiatrist as well as a Holocaust survivor. He developed a theory that is through a search for meaning and purpose in life that individuals can endure hardship and suffering. Insightful Viktor Frankl quotes will inspire you to change your perspective to find meaning in anything you do.
If you’re searching for life quotes and sayings that perfectly capture what you’d like to say or just want to feel inspired yourself, browse through an amazing collection of best Terence Mckenna quotes, inspiring Alan Watts quotes, and powerful Anne Frank quotes.
Most Famous Viktor E. Frankl Quotes
For the first time in my life I saw 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 highest goal to which man can aspire. Viktor Frankl
Between stimulus and response there is a space. In that space is our power to choose our response. In our response lies our growth and our freedom. Viktor Frankl
Love is the only way to grasp another human being in the innermost core of his personality. No one can become fully aware of the very essence of another human being unless he loves him. Viktor Frankl
Everything can be taken from a man but one thing the last of human freedoms to choose one’s attitude in any given set of circumstances, to choose one’s own way. Viktor Frankl
The men who walked through the huts comforting others, giving away their last piece of bread. They may have been few in number, but they offer sufficient proof that everything can be taken from a man but one thing. Viktor Frankl
For the meaning of life differs from man to man, from day to day and from hour to hour. What matters, therefore, is not the meaning of life in general but rather the specific meaning of a person’s life at a given moment. Viktor Frankl
To draw an analogy a man’s suffering is similar to the behavior of a gas. If a certain quantity of gas is pumped into an empty chamber, it will fill the chamber completely and evenly, no matter how big the chamber. Viktor Frankl
If there is a meaning in life at all, then there must be a meaning in suffering. Suffering is an ineradicable part of life, even as fate and death. Without suffering and death, human life cannot be complete. Viktor Frankl
Forces beyond your control can take away everything you possess except one thing, your freedom to choose how you will respond to the situation. Viktor Frankl
Ultimately, man should not ask what the meaning of his life is, but rather he must recognize that it is he who is asked. Viktor Frankl
In some ways suffering ceases to be suffering at the moment it finds a meaning, such as the meaning of a sacrifice. Viktor Frankl
Religion is the search for ultimate meaning. Viktor Frankl
It is not freedom from conditions, but it is freedom to take a stand toward the conditions. Viktor Frankl
Evermore people today have the means to live, but no meaning to live for. Viktor Frankl
But there was no need to be ashamed of tears, for tears bore witness that a man had the greatest of courage, the courage to suffer. Viktor Frankl
Challenging the meaning of life is the truest expression of the state of being human. Viktor Frankl
An abnormal reaction to an abnormal situation is normal behavior. Viktor Frankl
Each man is questioned by life; and he can only answer to life by answering for his own life; to life he can only respond by being responsible. Viktor Frankl
To suffer unnecessarily is masochistic rather than heroic. Viktor Frankl
There is nothing in the world, I venture to say, that would so effectively help one to survive even the worst conditions as the knowledge that there is a meaning in one’s life. Viktor Frankl
If there is meaning in life at all, then there must be meaning in suffering. Suffering is an ineradicable part of life, even as fate and death. Viktor Frankl
No one can become fully aware of the very essence of another human being unless he loves him. Viktor Frankl
What is to give light must endure burning. Viktor Frankl
To the European, it is a characteristic of the American culture that, again and again, one is commanded and ordered to be happy. But happiness cannot be pursued; it must ensue. One must have a reason to be happy. Viktor Frankl
Success, like happiness, is the unexpected side effect of one’s personal dedication to a cause greater than oneself. Viktor Frankl
If you call religious a man who believes in what I call a Supermeaning, a meaning so comprehensive that you can no longer grasp it, get hold of it in rational intellectual terminology, then one should feel free to call me religious, really. Viktor Frankl
To the European, it is a characteristic of the American culture that, again and again, one is commanded and ordered to be happy.Viktor Frankl
A man’s concern, even his despair, over the worthwhileness of life is an existential distress but by no means a mental disease. Viktor Frankl
Happiness must happen, and the same holds for success you have to let it happen by not caring about it. Viktor Frankl
When a man cannot find meaning, he numbs himself with pleasure. Viktor Frankl
For success, like happiness, cannot be pursued; it must ensue, and it only does so as the unintended side effect of one’s personal dedication to a cause greater than oneself or as the byproduct of one’s surrender to a person other than oneself. Viktor Frankl
God is the partner of your most intimate soliloquies. Viktor Frankl
A man’s concern, even his despair, over the worthwhileness of life is an existential distress but by no means a mental disease. Viktor Frankl
View life as a series of movie frames, the ending and meaning may not be apparent until the very end of the movie, and yet, each of the hundreds of individual frames has meaning within the context of the whole movie. Viktor Frankl
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. Viktor Frankl
Each of us carries a unique spark of the divine, and each of us is also an inseparable part of the web of life. Viktor Frankl
View life as a series of movie frames, the ending and meaning may not be apparent until the very end of the movie, and yet, each of the hundreds of individual frames has meaning within the context of the whole movie. Viktor Frankl
The quest for meaning is the key to mental health and human flourishing. Viktor Frankl
The point is not what we expect from life, but rather what life expects from us. Viktor Frankl
An abnormal reaction to an abnormal situation is normal behavior. Viktor Frank
Each of us carries a unique spark of the divine, and each of us is also an inseparable part of the web of life. Viktor Frankl
The attempt to develop a sense of humor and to see things in a humorous light is some kind of a trick learned while mastering the art of living. Viktor Frankl
We can discover this meaning in life in three different ways 1. by doing a deed; 2. by experiencing a value; and 3. by suffering. Viktor Frankl
Humor was another of the soul’s weapons in the fight for self preservation. Viktor Frankl
Our greatest human freedom is that, despite whatever our physical situation is in life, we are always free to choose our thoughts! Viktor Frankl
Love is the only way to grasp another human being in the innermost core of his personality. Viktor Frankl
Each man is questioned by life, and he can only answer to life by answering for his own life; to life, he can only respond by being responsible. Viktor Frankl
Life ultimately means taking the responsibility to find the right answer to its problems and to fulfill the tasks which it constantly sets for each individual. Viktor Frankl
Ultimately, man should not ask what the meaning of his life is, but rather must recognize that it is he who is asked. Viktor Frankl
