MAN'S SEARCH FOR MEANING

"Man can preserve a vestige of spiritual freedom, of independence of mind, even in such terrible conditions of psychic and physical stress."

"...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."

"Fundamentally, therefore, any many can, even under such circumstances, decide what shall become of him -- mentally and physically."

"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."

"The way in which a man accepts his fate and all the suffering it entails the way in which he takes up his cross, gives him ample opportunity -- even under the most difficult circumstances -- to add a deeper meaning to his life."

"...it did not really matter what we expected from life, but rather what life expected from us."

"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."

From "Man's Search for Meaning"
By Viktor E. Frankl