Man's search for meaning

Viktor E. Frankl
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Viktor Frankl, a prominent psychiatrist from pre-war Vienna, was uniquely able to observe how he and other prisoners dealt with the experience of being in Auschwitz. He observed that the men who supported others and gave them their last piece of bread were the ones who survived the longest—they provided proof that everything can be taken from us except the ability to choose our attitude in any given set of circumstances. The kind of person a prisoner became was the result of an inner decision, not solely of the camp's influences. Only those who allowed their inner control over their moral and spiritual selves to decline ultimately fell victim to the camp's degrading influence—while those who triumphed in those experiences transformed it into an inner triumph. Frankl believed that the deepest human desire is the search for meaning and purpose. This outstanding work offers us all a way to transcend suffering and find meaning in the art of living.