false 4069 080701429X 9780807014295 8450 1336 http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1255581395m/4069.jpg http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/4069.Man_s_Search_for_Meaning 2782 Viktor E. Frankl 9845 1584 5 0 false Sat Nov 15 00:00:00 -0800 2008 Sat Nov 01 14:19:23 -0700 2008 Mon Nov 17 13:03:08 -0800 2008 1
Part of the appeal of this book lies in the historical account from a survivor of the holocaust, told in a slightly detached, matter-of-fact, manner. It's only 60 years ago but we quickly forget about the horrors of the concentration camp, and all the other human-inspired miseries since.

However, as the title might indicate, this book has much more to offer the reader. The author shows how even in the darkest nightmarish situations there is a way for the human psyche to come through. Though the reader might feel awkward comparing their situation to that endured by the author (I certainly did) the advice and anecdotes presented here are applicable far beyond the extreme suffering of the concentration camps (and, indeed, that is exactly the intention of the author).

Here's a few things I've picked up from the book
- It isn't how life treats you that's important, it's how you approach life. Some situations might be inescapable and result in great suffering but there is little point on dwelling on the unfairness of the universe. You must look at as an opportunity to prove yourself -- to show your integrity. The one choice you always have is how you to react to a situation.
- Having something to hold onto. Whether it is the thought of a loved one or the knowledge that your suffering might have saved another. For example, the loneliness of a windower had actually saved his wife from the same suffering by living longer than her.

Quote:
- "A man who has a why to live for can bear with almost any how" (actually from Nietzsche)
- "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."
- "It did not really matter what we expected from life, but rather what life expected from us. We needed to stop asking about the meaning of life, and instead to think of ourselves as those who were being questioned by life—daily and hourly. Our answer must consist, not in talk and meditation, but in right action and in right conduct. 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."
- "We can discover this meaning in life in three different ways: (1) by creating a work or doing a deed; (2) by experiencing a something or encountering someone; and (3) by the attitude we take toward unavoidable suffering."
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