Philosophically, this book doesn't have a leg to stand on. The whole notion of replacing the question of the meaning of life with the assertion that

Ultimately, man should not ask what the meaning of his life is, but rather he must recognize that it is he who is asked. In a word, each man is questioned by life; and he can only answer to life by answering for his own life; to life he can only respond by being responsible.

strikes me as inane. But differing on a matter of philosophy hardly warrants a one star review. What does warrant a one star review is the fact that the book is sanctimonious, moralizing, and, quite ironically, despair inducing. On multiple occasions references are made to some camp inmates behaving like ``swine" while other behaved like ``saints." For some unfathomable reason Frankl seems to think that the highest possible moral virtue, which he doesn't tire of extolling, is going through suffering ``with courage and dignity." Those camp inmates who gave up and became ``Moslems" or committed suicide are held in contempt as if going on living were the highest moral imperative.
The thing that is depressing about this book is its unrelenting emphasis on finding meaning in life through either work, love, or enduring suffering and the assertion that unless you can achieve this, you'll be consigned to woe. In this way, Frankl denies god's grace to those poor souls who fail to find meaning in work, who are unlucky in love, and who are too weak to endure suffering.

Dr. Frankl was such an amazing man! A practicing psychiatrist when he was sent to his first of 4 concentration camps over a 3 yr period, he honed his psychological philosophy as he observed others' attitudes and his own experience towards the unavoidable suffering of the camps. He developed a therapeutic regimen named logotherapy which is more future-oriented in finding meaning or purpose in one's life than traditional psychoanalysis which delves into one's past to explain one's behavior and attitudes.
Life in a concentration camp tore open the human soul and exposed its depths.
The first part of the book highlights his time in the camps which are horrific and I still am gobsmacked by his ability to find meaning & purpose, to make even the smallest choices which gave him something to hang onto. To realize that the spiritual freedom of choosing is something that no one can take away.

Part 2 discusses in more depth logotherapy which says we can find meaning in our lives in several ways: 1) creating a work or doing a deed, 2) experiencing something or encountering someone (love), and/or 3) the attitude we take toward unavoidable suffering.

This edition also has a foreword by Harold Kushner which illuminated Frankl's key concepts, and an afterword by William Winsdale which gave a short bio of Frankl and how he applied his theory & pointed to other works written by Frankl.

I have highlighted much throughout the book. Certainly the need for purpose & meaning is not a new concept, but the realization of how much we need it to thrive as our life circumstances change has been accepted as a mainstream idea in the 20thC. Perhaps because we are living longer and go through more stages of our lives compared with previous centuries?

Kushner says Frankl's most enduring insight is that Forces beyond your control can take away everything you possess except one thing, your freedom to choose how you will respond to the situation.

"no one has the right to do wrong, not even if wrong has been done to them."

"Life is not primarily a quest for pleasure, as Freud believed, or a quest for power, as Alfred Adler taught, but a quest for meaning."

Man's Search for Meaning provides an unbiased narration of the experiences faced by a prisoner in a concentration camp, and the effects of it on one's most inner self. This is not a book on the specifics of torture, or other such inhumane things, but a prisoner's psychological impacts caused from numerous hardships.

"No man should judge unless he asks himself in absolute honesty whether in a similar situation he might not have done the same."

Dr. Frankl incorporates his own experiences while trying to find common ground among the prisoners and how one must survive when all else is lost. The first autobiographical section is followed by an evaluation of the adapted methodology, in which the author clearly describes the fundamentals of the basics and specifics on this school of thought. This is a very unique interpretation as to how a man should live, while allowing reader to relate his own experiences and to see life in a different perspective.

"at any time each of the moments of which life consists is dying, and that moment will never recur. And yet is not this transitoriness a reminder that challenges us to make the best possible use of each moment of our lives?"

این کتاب به 2 بخش اصلی تقسیم میشه که بخش اول مربوط به زندگی در اردوگاه کار اجباری و بخش دوم مربوط به لوگوتراپی میشود. من بخش اول رو بیشتر دوست داشتم. با وجود اینکه خیلی تلخ بود و از لحظه لحظه‌اش دلگیر می‌شدم اما بخش اول رو بیشتر دوست داشتم. نه اینکه بخش دوم مفید نبوده باشه یا زمانم هدر رفته باشه با خواندنش اما در کل بخش اول رو با میل بیشتری دنبال میکردم.
تو بخش اول به تنها چیزی که فکر میکردم این بود که انسان تا چه اندازه می‌تونه بی‌رحم و وحشی باشد، به اینکه در اختیار داشتن قدرت تا چه اندازه می‌تونه تو روابط انسانی تاثیر بگذارد. یه جاهایی از باب نویسنده میشنویم که زندانی‌ها به غیر از بدن‌شون چیز دیگه‌ای متعلق به خود نداشتند. البته بماند که هیچ وقت ذهن و فکر آدم‌هارو نمیشه ازشون گرفت. خیلی از آنها در چنین شرایطی به یک رویای مشترک می‌اندیشند. آزادی. اما چیزی که برای این زندانیان از بین می‌رود فقط مال و نام و جسمشان نیست، بلکه آنها پاکی و شرف و عزت و عفت خود را نیز در جستجوی راهی برای زنده ماندن گم کرده و از دست می‌دهند.
بسیارند فیلم‌ها و کتاب‌ها و روایت‌های مربوط به جنگ‌ها و به خصوص اردوگاهای کار اجباری و هر بار با لمس هر کدام از آنها در هر مدیومی تن ما به لرز می‌افتد. زندانیانی که تا قبل از اسارت هر کدام اسم و رسمی در زندگی برای خود داشتند حال اسیرانی حقیر و ناتوان به شمار می‌آمدند. آنها به جایگاهی نزول کرده بودند که پس از کشته شدن و مردن دوستان نزدیک‌شان اولین چیزی که از ذهنشان میگذشت برداشتن خرت و پرت نداشته آنها از قبیل دمپایی چوبی بهتر بود. حتی در جایی از کتاب اشاراتی به این نکته می‌شود که بازماندگان پس از تخلیه یک اردوگاه به دلیل کمبود مواد غذایی و گرسنگی، از بدن نحیف و مریض دوستان خود نیز در جهت زنده ماندن تغذیه می‌کردند.
نویسنده کتاب یعنی ویکتور فرانکل پزشکی بود که به اسارت درآمده بود و به دلیل شیوع بیماری تیفوس در اردوگاه از او برای مداوا و معالجه سایر زندانیان استفاده می‌کردند. ویکتور فرانکل از بازمانده‌های جنگ جهانی دوم و هولوکاست بود و توانست این کتاب را بنویسد و به چاپ برساند. زمانی که تمامی زندانیان هم اردوگاهی او تاب تحمل زندگی را نداشتند او به خواست یکی از افسران اس. اس. برای آنها سخنرانی کرد تا کورسویی از امید را به آنها بازگرداند. در شرایط کنونی دنیا تحمل شرایط قرنطینه و دوری از فعالیت‌های معمول برای عموم افراد در دنیا به دلیل شیوع ویروس کرونا بسیار سخت می‌باشد و این سختی به دلیل نداستن زمان پایان این شرایط است. زندگی در اردوگاه کار اجباری از این حیث شبیه به شرایط فعلی جهان می‌باشد. زندانیان می‌دانستند که باید تحمل کنند و زنده بمانند اما اینکه اطلاعی از زمان پایان آن نداشتند و نمیدانستند که جنگ کی به اتمام می‌رسد تحمل نمودن شرایط را چند برابر دشوار می‌نمود.

* بخشی از متن کتاب:
"هرگز فراموش نمی‌کنم که چگونه یک شب با قرقر یکی از زندانیان از خواب جستم. او به شدت دست و پا می‌زد و گویا دچار کابوس وحشتناکی شده بود. از آنجا که همیشه، بویژه نسبت به کسانی که خواب‌های ترسناک می‌دیدند یا هذیان می‌گفتند حس ترحم داشتم. خواستم مرد بیچاره را از خواب بیدار کنم، اما ناگهان دستم را که می‌رفت او را تکان دهد پس کشیدم، چون از عملی که می‌خواستم انجام دهم، وحشت کردم. و در آن لحظه به این حقیقت رسیدم که هیچ خوابی هر چند هولناک نمی‌تواند به تلخی و گزندگی واقعیت زندگی اردوگاهی پیرامون ما باشد، و من ناآگاهانه می‌خواستم او را به آن زندگی بازگردانم."
زمانی با خود فکر می‌کردم که میتوانم حال و روز زندانیان نگون‌بخت آن زمان را درک کنم اما حال می‌دانم که حتی نزدیک به درک کردن رنج و سختی و دردی که آنها کشیده‌اند نیستم.
در کتاب اشاره‌ای به جمله‌ای از نیچه می‌شود که می‌گوید "کسی که چرایی زندگی خویش را پیدا کرده باشد، به چگونگی آن نیز دست پیدا می‌کند." وظیفه‌ای که همه ما داریم این است که چرایی زندگی خود را دریابیم و در راستای رسیدن به آن بکوشیم.
فرانکل فردی به شدت مثبت‌اندیش است و تحت هر شرایطی می‌تواند به زندگی خود معنا دهد و خوشا بحال افرادی که این‌گونه‌اند و می‌توانند به زندگی خود معنا دهند. معنای زندگی در هر لحظه در حال تغییر است و شاید بهتر است ما بتوانیم روز به روز با این تغییرات کنار بیایم و معنای جدیدی برای خود برگزینیم. من خیلی روشن و مثبت نمی‌اندیشم و نمی‌توانم با دیدن تمامی پلیدی‌ها و زشتی‌های دنیا چشم به خوبی‌ها و زیبایی‌های دنیا بدوزم اما خوشابحال آنانی که می‌توانند. فارغ از اینکه دیدگاه و افکار من تفاوت‌هایی با دیدگاه‌های بیان شده در کتاب دارد، لذت بردم از خوانش این کتاب و آن را به هر کسی توصیه می‌کنم. این کتاب را نه 1 بار بلکه چندین بار باید خواند تا از درد و رنج‌ها و مصیبت‌هایی که آن زندانیان تحمل نموده‌اند مطلع شویم. براستی که انسانی که خود را اشرف مخلوقات می‌داند از پس چه کارهای پلیدی که بر نمی‌آید.

این ترم خیلی هستی به من لطف داشت که تونستم یه مقاله دربارۀ معنادرمانی بنویسم و یه مدت فلسفۀ اگزیستانسیالیسم و لوگوتراپی فرانکل رو مطالعه می‌کردم. ولی هیچ کدوم از کتاب‌ها رو نتونستم کامل بخونم و فقط جاهایی رو که نیاز داشتم خوندم. باید بگم معنادرمانی خیلی به زندگی من کمک کرده. چه از اولین باری که اسمش به گوشم خورد و کم‌کم درباره‌ش یاد گرفتم، چه تا همین اخیراً و می‌دونم تا بعدها هم برام خواهد موند.

معنای رنج، عشق، وجود و اضطراب وجودی رو هرکس دیگه‌ای می‌گفت خیلی‌ها وقعی نمی‌نهادند. فرانکل بنیان‌گذار مکتب سوم روانشناسی وین و سابقۀ عالیش در درمان به‌کنار، آدم می‌گه خسته نباشی! این همه درس خوندی و کار کردی، می‌خواستی این‌قد معروف نشی و چنین دستاوردهایی نداشته باشی؟ اما فرانکل در اردوگاه‌‌های کار اجباری بوده و تجربیات اونجاش باعث و بانی معنادرمانی شده. توی اون شرایط تنها چیزی که اونو به زندگی نگه می‌داشته، معنا بوده. معنادرمانگرها اعتقاد دارن نداشتن معنای زندگی اضطراب پاتولوژیک یا افسردگی و سایر اختلالات روانی رو بروز می‌ده. مفهوم اصالت در معنادرمانی یعنی اینکه انسان از اضطراب پاتولوژیکش فاصله بگیره و با وجودش روبه‌رو شه. این اصیل شدن مفهوم قشنگیه توی معنادرمانی. هرچند از نظر آسیب‌شناسی قدرت روانکاوی و رفتار-شناختی‌درمانی رو نداره، تا جای زیادی تونسته توی اتاق درمان سرفراز باشه.

الان دلم می‌خواد یه تیکه‌هایی از خاطرات فرانکل یا بخش‌های نظریشو بیارم ولی این‌قد تحت بارش افکارم که فکر می‌کنم ریویومم مخدوش شده. بعداً باید برگردم درستش کنم. ولی برا الان می‌خوام بگم که زندگی‌های ماها به‌قدری مسخره شده دیگه که نه حوصلۀ روانکاوی رو داریم، نه با رویکردهای شناختی رفتاری مشکلات‌مون حل می‌شه. هرچند حرفم عام نیست بازم، بیشتر دارم برا قشر متوسط روبه‌بالای ایران می‌گم اینو. به‌نظرم معنادرمانی می‌تونه ما رو با وجود و خویشتن‌مون آشتی بده و به اصالت نزدیک‌مون کنه.

+ ترجمه خیلی معمولی بود. یه جاها دیریاب بودن یا خیلی سرد و نچسب شده بود. بابا معنادرمانی خیلی عمیق و گرم و نرمه، این بلا رو سرش نیارین. :دی

This is a fascinating book by a psychiatrist who survived the Holocaust. The first part, which I loved, is the author's story about how he endured the concentration camps. Frankl's purpose in describing his time in Auschwitz and other camps was not to dwell on the horrors -- though there were plenty of those -- but instead to focus on how prisoners found meaning in their lives and how they chose to survive.

The book's foreword has a good summary of the ideas to come: "Terrible as it was, his experience in Auschwitz reinforced what was already one of his key ideas: Life is not primarily a quest for pleasure, as Freud believed, or a quest for power, as Alfred Adler taught, but a quest for meaning. The greatest task for any person is to find meaning in his or her life. Frankl saw three possible sources for meaning: in work (doing something significant), in love (caring for another person), and in courage during difficult times. Suffering in and of itself is meaningless; we give suffering meaning by the way in which we respond to it."

I have read Elie Wiesel's Night and Art Spiegelman's Maus books, both of which provide searing images of the horrors of the camps, but Frankl's description of Auschwitz is noteworthy because he was able to view his ordeal philosophically. In the midst of hell on earth, he had the brilliant focus of a scholar who was trying to see beyond the present and into greater human truths. At spare moments in his work at doctoring sick patients in the camp, he would jot down ideas for a manuscript.

And one night when prisoners were forced to march in the bitter cold, Frankl was wondering if his wife was still alive when he had a realization: "A thought transfixed me: for the first time in my life I saw the truth as it is set into song by so many poets, proclaimed as the final wisdom by so many thinkers. The truth -- that love is the ultimate and the highest goal to which man can aspire. Then I grasped the meaning of the greatest secret that human poetry and human thought and belief have to impart: The salvation of man is through love and in love. I understood how a man who has nothing left in this world still may know bliss, be it only for a brief moment, in the contemplation of his beloved."

Frankl described the different attitudes of prisoners, and how some people gave up hope of living and they soon died. Those who focused on their reasons for living had a better chance of survival.

"We who lived in concentration camps can remember the men who walked through the huts comforting others, giving away their last piece of bread. They may have been few in number, but they offer sufficient proof that 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 second part of the book focuses on Frankl's system of logotherapy, which is about finding someone's primary meaning in life, and this section is more difficult to read and seems to be geared toward graduate students in psychology.

The 2006 edition that I read had a lovely afterword giving more details about Frankl's life and the impact of his work. One story was about a young Israeli soldier who had lost both his legs in battle and who was depressed and suicidal. Then the soldier became more serene after reading Man's Search for Meaning. "When he was told about the soldier, Frankl wondered whether 'there may be such a thing as autobibliotherapy -- healing through reading.'" (As someone who frequently finds comfort in books, I say yes, autobibliotherapy is real.)

When Frankl's camp was finally liberated by the Red Cross in 1945, he moved to Vienna. He discovered that he was all alone -- his wife, parents and brother had all died in the camps. Frankl chose to resume his career as a psychiatrist, wrote several books and gave innumerable lectures. In one of his classes he was asked to express the meaning of his own life in one sentence. He wrote it down and asked his students to guess what had been written:

"After some moments of quiet reflection, a student surprised Frankl by saying, 'The meaning of your life is to help others find the meaning of theirs.'

"'That was it exactly,' Frankl said. 'Those are the very words I had written.'"

Note: Originally I gave this book 4 stars, having docked a star because of the denseness of the second part. But the first part of this book is so powerful and memorable that I've raised it back up to a 5.

A therapist I truly admire. Able to think for himself, and integrate his personal stories into a meaningful (pardon the pun) theory able to handle most psychological dilemmas, I don`t know why we don`t learn much more about him and his thoughts during the six years we studied. in fact, I cannot remember that he was mentioned once). The best thing: Its easy to read, and full of relevant examples from his clinical practice and life.

I enjoyed reading Part One and I felt a bit bored when I read Part Two.

Overall, this is one of the best books to tell the living experience in the WWII concentration camp in Auschwitz where there are horrible places such as gas chambers, crematoriums, and massacres.

They can take away everything you possess except one thing, your freedom to choose how you will respond to the situation.

You cannot control what happens to you in life, but you can always control what you will feel and do about what happens to you.

I would also like to recommend "The Happiest Man on Earth by Eddie Jaku." if you like this book.

I read this book for the first time during my senior year in high school. The year prior, I had gone to Germany for spring break with some fellow classmates. During the trip, we spent a day visiting a former WWII concentration camp in Dachau. As one might expect, this visit had a profound effect on me. I had of course read and knew about the atrocities that occurred under the Nazi regime, but to actually see a camp in person is a deeply haunting and disturbing experience. Perhaps for this reason, Frankl's book affected me even more deeply than it otherwise might have.

The book is divided into two parts. The first section recounts in vivid detail Frankl's horrifying experiences as a prisoner in a Nazi concentration camp. Frankl, a former psychiatrist, also describes his observations of other prisoners and what he felt to be the main way in which people tried to cope with the insurmountable obstacles they faced. He found that those who could find meaning or purpose in their suffering were the ones who also seemed better able to find the strength to go on. As I recall, Frankl personally found his purpose in the hope of someday being able to see his wife again - a hope that was strong enough to get him through the daily horrors he faced.

The second half of this book is devoted to the therapy he developed based on the search for meaning, which he calls logotherapy. The basic premise is that those who can find meaning in their suffering are better able to cope with what would otherwise be a struggle too hard to bear. As one who majored in psychology, I found this section as fascinating as the first.

I have read this book at least three times now, and it is one of the few books I can say truly changed my life. I am ever grateful that I have the wisdom of this book to fall back upon when needed.

Several years ago, at a very young age (in my 20s), I became ill with a disease that left me bedridden and barely able to speak above a whisper. Now 36, I am still bedridden and fighting the same battle. It is Frankl's reminder to find meaning and purpose in suffering (which I found in the love of my fiancé and my hope of recovery) that has helped me to get through each difficult day. As Frankl tells us, "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."

I highly recommend this book!!

Q: There is much wisdom in the words of Nietzsche: "He who has a why to live for can bear almost any how”. (c)
Q:
We who have come back, by the aid of many lucky chances or miracles - whatever one may choose to call them - we know: the best of us did not return. (c)

A very hard to read book, which could be used as an antidepressant. If people can live through this, if you can write a book in your head, as a self-therapy so as not lose oneself or die from pain and fear and utter despair... then people can do anything.

The author... well... people like the author must have been made from steel or maybe titanuim or diamonds... Incredible will to not only live but to overcome things that would have made anyone drop and cry and die inside.

A reread. This needs to be reread multiple times to sink in.

Q:
Forces beyond your control can take away everything you possess except one thing, your freedom to choose how you will respond to the situation. You cannot control what happens to you in life, but you can always control what you will feel and do about what happens to you. .. 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. (c)
Q:
An abnormal reaction to an abnormal situation is normal behavior. (c)
Q:
In some ways suffering ceases to be suffering at the moment it finds a meaning, such as the meaning of a sacrifice. (c)
Q:
So live as if you were living already for the second time and as if you had acted the first time as wrongly as you are about to act now! (c)
Q:
No man should judge unless he asks himself in absolute honesty whether in a similar situation he might not have done the same. (c)
Q:
Man does not simply exist but always decides what his existence will be, what he will become the next moment. By the same token, every human being has the freedom to change at any instant. (c)
Q:
Sunday neurosis, that kind of depression which afflicts people who become aware of the lack of content in their lives when the rush of the busy week is over and the void within themselves becomes manifest. (c)
Q:
As a professor in two fields, neurology and psychiatry, I am fully aware of the extent to which man is subject to biological, psychological and sociological conditions. But in addition to being a professor in two fields I am a survivor of four camps - concentration camps, that is - and as such I also bear witness to the unexpected extent to which man is capable of defying and braving even the worst conditions conceivable. (c)
Q:
I recommend that the Statue of Liberty on the East Coast be supplemented by a Statue of Responsiblity on the West Coast. (c) Funny guy, was a he a seer or something?

There must be something wrong with me. This is a book that everyone is supposed to love. But I didn't. I didn't even like it. I only gave it three stars because I would have felt like a first class jerk giving it only two stars.

Here's the thing- I love WWII stories- The Hiding Place, Anne Frank, etc. But Man's Search for Meaning had no emotion in it. It was so clinical and frankly quite boring.

The first section- Experiences in a Concentration Camp- was ok, but as I said, contained no emotion.

The next two sections- Logotherapy in a Nutshell and The Case for Tragic Optimism- were excruciating the muddle through. It's a really good thing that I didn't major in psychology, philosophy, etc because I would have slept through the textbooks and flunked out of college. These last two sections of the book put me to sleep several times.

This was quite a disappointment. I thought Man's Search for Meaning was supposed to be one of "those" books- you know the ones that are super-fabulous and make you see the world in a different way. It wasn't.

But, I have to end on a positive note- so here is a quote that I liked...
from pg 116- The Meaning of Love- "Love is the only way to grasp another human being in the innermost core of his personality. No one can become fully aware of the very essence of another human being unless he loves him. By his love he is enabled to see the essential traits and features in the beloved person; and even more, he see that which is potential in him, which is not yet actualized but yet ought to be actualized. Furthermore, by his love, the loving person enables the beloved person to actualize these potentialities. By making him aware of what he can be and of what he should become, he makes these potentialities come true."

Firește, Viktor Emil Frankl (1905 - 1997) nu și-a propus să ofere (încă) o relatare a anilor petrecuți în lagăr de un inocent, ci o meditație asupra individului captiv și a transformărilor suferite de psihicul său. Poți să fii de acord (sau nu) cu ideile sale, dar ele provin dintr-o experiență-limită, asupra căreia autorul a meditat îndelung.

Chiar dacă a dictat în nouă zile prima parte a cărții, Viktor Frankl a urmat, cu siguranță, o serie de note și „sistematizări”. Autorul încearcă să întemeieze o concluzie - viața are sens - și din această pricină nu urmează cronologia și nici nu descrie amănunțit toate suferințele prin care a trecut: nu dă nume, oferă o perspectivă de sus, austeră. Observă că, de obicei, psihicul captiv trece prin trei stadii. Uluirea inițială, revolta pot duce la o stare de apatie („Nu mai are nici un rost să trăiesc, moartea e preferabilă”) sau, în cazuri izolate, la intuirea sensului ascuns pînă și în suferința cea mai atroce. Firește, sensul nu e ceva valabil pentru toți, ceva ce ți se impune de sus, sensul vieții ține de o decizie strict personală: „Tovarășii mei de lagăr se temeau să ia decizii sau să aibă orice fel de inițiativă... Prizonierul prefera să lase soarta să aleagă în locul său” (pp.70-71).

Pentru a-și păstra echilibrul mintal, prizonierul poate încerca o serie de „exerciții spirituale”, în tradiția celor prescrise cîndva de Ignatiu de Loyola. Cel mai important dintre ele este neîndoielnic vizualizarea minuțioasă a persoanei iubite (în cazul lui Frankl a fost Mathilde / Tilly Grosser, prima lui soție). O variantă a acestui exercițiu e vizualizarea unui eveniment fericit din viitor:

„Mă scîrbisem de starea aceea de lucruri care mă constrîngea, zi de zi şi ceas de ceas, să mă gîndesc doar la astfel de lucruri mărunte. Mi-am silit gîndurile să treacă la un alt subiect. Brusc, m-am văzut stînd în picioare într-o sală de conferințe bine luminată, caldă şi plăcută. În faţa mea, un public atent şedea pe nişte scaune tapiţate, confortabile. Ţineam o prelegere despre psihologia lagărelor de concentrare” (p.86).

Reflecțiile lui Frankl nu sînt niciodată confortabile. Citez cel mai provocator pasaj:

„Noi, cei care am trăit în lagărele de concentrare, ne amintim de aceia care treceau din baracă în baracă, mîngîindu-i pe ceilalţi, dăruindu-le ultima lor îmbucătură de pîine. Vor fi fost puţini la număr, dar ei ne dau îndeajuns de multe dovezi că omului i se poate lua totul, mai puţin un lucru: ultima dintre libertăţile umane - respectiv aceea de a-și alege propria atitudine într-un anumit set de împrejurări date, de a-și alege propriul mod de a fi... La o ultimă analiză, ne devine limpede că genul de persoană care ajungea să devină deţinutul era rezultatul unei decizii lăuntrice, nu doar rezultatul influenţelor lagărului asupra sa” (p.79).

Găsim aici cîteva sugestii foarte asemănătoare cu cele formulate de Sartre în 1943: omul e obligat mereu să aleagă, refuzul alegerii e tot o alegere, noi înșine alegem să fim liberi (sau nu). De noi depinde să fim bestii sau sfinți... Sigur că aceste opinii sînt discutabile: nu cred că viața are sens și nu cred că „voința de sens” conduce negreșit la sens, dar asta e o altă poveste...