Re-reading Man's Search For Meaning...The autobiographical account of Viktor Frankl, a Holocaust survivor, a prominent psychiatrist imprisoned in Auschwitz. The writing is powerful because of Frankl's spiritual perceptions of his experience. Ultimately, it's his deep understanding of human psychology that makes his inhumane years live-able. I recommend this book, not because it's heavy and thoughtful, but because it is the essence of positive mental attitude. In fact, it could be touted as a Salesman's handbook, a simple book on relationships, a text on human psychology, or the how-to's of gratitude.
What a man, what a life.
What a man, what a life.
"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."
"...the story of the young woman whose death I witnessed in a concentration camp. It is a simple story. There is little to tell and it may sound as if I had invented it; but to me it seems like a poem. This young woman knew that she would die in the next few days. But when I talked to her she was cheerful in spite of this knowledge. "I am grateful that fate has hit me so hard," she told me. "In my former life I was spoiled and did not take spiritual accomplishments seriously." Pointing through the window of the hut, she said, "This tree here is the only friend I have in my loneliness." Through that window she could see just one branch of a chestnut tree, and on the branch were two blossoms. "I often talk to this tree," she said to me. I was startled and didn't quite know how to take her words. Was she delirious? Did she have occasional hallucinations? Anxiously I asked her if the tree replied. "Yes." What did it say to her? She answered, "It said to me, 'I am here-I am here-I am life, eternal life.'" p.69