Highlights from Viktor Frankl's "Man's Search for Meaning"

(Note: The author was the sole survivor of his family of the Nazi genocide, which also took the life of his pregnant wife.)

"Live as though one is living a second time, and as if you acted as wrongly the first time as you about to act now!"

“By declaring that man is responsible and must actualize the potential meaning of his life, I wish to stress that the true meaning of life is to be discovered in the world rather than within man or his own psyche, as though it is a closed system. I have termed this constitutive characteristic “the self-transcendence of human existence.” It denotes the fact that being human always points, and is directed, to something, or someone, other than oneself - be it a meaning to fulfil or another human being to encounter. The more one forgets himself - by giving himself to a cause to serve or another person to love- the more human he is and the more he actualizes himself.”

“What is called self actualization is not an attainable aim at all, for the simple reason that the more one would strive for it the more he would miss it. In other words, self-actualization is possible only as a side-effect of self-transcendence.”

“... we can discover this meaning in life in three different ways (1) by creating a work or doing a deed; (2) by experiencing something or encountering someone; and (3) by the attitude we take towards unavoidable suffering.”

About hyper intention: “the more a man tries to demonstrate his sexual potency or a woman her ability to experience orgasm, the less likely they are to succeed.”

“ ‘The neurotic who learns to laugh at himself may be on the way to self management, perhaps to cure.’ ” (Comment: didn't work for Woody Allen!)

“Man is not fully conditioned and determined, but rather determines himself whether he gives in to conditions or stands up to them... man is ultimately self determining. Man does not simply exist, but always decides what his existence will be, what he will become in the next moment.”