Muneel Zaidi's Reviews > Man's Search for Meaning

A sobering read, likely to spark introspection in most readers. The central premise being:

"He who has a why to live for can bear with almost any how."

A quote Frankl attributes to the philosopher Nietzsche, who is often associated with the philosophy of nihilism. Nihilism is the antithesis of Frankl's school of thought that finding meaning in one's life, even if that meaning is suffering, is the purpose of one's existence. Not power or pleasure as others argue.

There is no power or pleasure in the first two-thirds of the narrative, it's Frankl's auto-biographical account of his years spent in a concentration camp. Stripped of everything, he found a way to endure, a way to find meaning in his suffering, and a reason to live. His intimate knowledge of suffering is almost zen-like in its dispensation. A lot of his ideas on psychology stem from his time as a prisoner.

The last part of the book is a discussion of "logotherapy." This is Frankl's school of psychotherapy, rooted in finding meaning in one's existence. He discusses its principles more formally and cites examples of his patients recovering from its use.

Overall, it's a disjointed book; medical text, philosophy, and biography. Subjective science, if you will, not to discredit it or discourage its reading. For all it's flaws (and what seem to be contradictions), it's a book that will leave most critical readers changed.

Some quotes:

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.


I think it was Lessing who once said, “There are things which must cause you to lose your reason or you have none to lose.”


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.

In some way, suffering ceases to be suffering at the moment it finds a meaning, such as the meaning of a sacrifice.

That is why I recommend that the Statue of Liberty on the East Coast be supplemented by a Statue of Responsibility on the West Coast.