Thank you for these inspirational quotes! Victor Frankl is one of my absolute favorites! It is so important to remember his wisdom during these current challenging times.
#2: This may sound crude or crass but: farts and getting kicked in the nethers gets laughs all over the place. If we analyze them, they are both childish, to be sure, but also involve an understanding of the human condition. Our universal humor is based on the things we all understand.
#3: Our comparative minisculeness creates a supply and demand thing. See #1.
In 1944 Viktor Frankl and the surviving members of his family were transported to Auschwitz, where his mother and brother were murdered in the gas chambers. His wife, Tilly died of typhus in Bergen Belsen. Viktor survived and wrote a book ‘Man’s Search for Meaning’ which speaks of his experience in the Nazi concentration camps. Here is a small excerpt.
“The experiences of camp life show that a man does have a choice of action. They were enough examples, often of a heroic nature, which proved that apathy could be overcome, irritability suppressed. Man can preserve a vestige of spiritual freedom, of independence of mind, even in such terrible conditions of psychic and physical stress. We who lived in the 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 away 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 way, the way in which a man accepts his fate, and all the suffering that it entails, the way in which he takes up his cross, gives him ample opportunity- even in the most difficult circumstances- to add a deeper meaning to life.”
To those that claim that we have no free will, including many intellectuals, we do have the freedom to choose our belief systems and values that we hold near and dear to our hearts.
Yes, I am not sure if it is his house where he used to live, or just work, I can't remember. But it is a small museum in Vienna. I have been twice, it is good.
Thank you. Frankl has walked me through much of my life, holding my hand and holding my survival. I received a great mark for an essay on Frankl after our first meeting in meaning. But the mark was redundant in comparison to the learning he gave me for living. Whenever walking. feels like trudging, when writing feels like a burden, his soul lifts mine. For that I am ever grateful.
Most of us suffer from existential loneliness and we feel no connection from other people or Mother Nature in all its Beauty. Our addictions to our smartphones is a way to keep our minds off of the truth of ‘interconnectedness’ or as Thich Nhat Hanh calls it: ‘interbeing’. It’s a paradox when we ask if our smartphone addiction is the cause of this loneliness or is this loneliness the reason we turn to our smartphones? A Catch 22! The following segment from Alice Walker’s Pulitzer Prize winning novel, The Color Purple is the most perfect example of interbeing that I have ever seen:
‘It?’ I ast.
‘Yeah, it. God ain’t a he or a she but a It.”
‘But what do it look like?’ I ast.
Don’t look like nothing, she say. It ain’t a picture show. It ain’t something you can look at apart from anything else, including yourself. I believe God is everything, say Shug. Everything that is or ever was or ever will be. And when you feel that, and be happy to feel that, you’ve found it.
She say- My first step from the old white man was first. Then air. Then birds. Then other people. But one day I was sitting quiet and feeling like a motherless child; which I was, it come to me!:that feeling of being part of everything; not separate at all. I knew that if I cut a tree, my arm would bleed. And I laughed and I cried and I ran all around the house. I knew just what it was. In fact, when it happen, you can’t miss it.” Alice Walker from “The Color Purple”
'I knew that if I cut a tree, my arm would bleed.;
Thank-you. When I first read this it put a thorn in my heart. But I have used it on occasion, well just to remind people of the Holocaust, but as an argument against influential intellectuals who claim that we have no free will. (Brian Greene, Richard Dawkins, Sam Harris). And for the most part we don't have a hell of a lot of control over what happens in the world, but we can choose our belief systems, how we respond to what the world throws at us and the values (remember how they used to be a thing) that we hold near and dear to our hearts. But I have used it twice in two of my essays, but this quote is at the very end, because it would be a travesty to write anything else after writing Frankl's words.
Zen Master Hakuin was praised and respected by his neighbours for his simplicity, virtue and the purity of his life. Near the place where he lived there was a food store. The owner of the food store had a beautiful unmarried daughter.
One day she was discovered to be pregnant. Her parents flew into a rage. They wanted to know who was the father, but she would not give them the name. After repeated scolding and harassment, she finally confessed to them that Hakuin was the father of the unborn child. The parents were furious that the holy man they had respected all this time had turned out to be such a charlatan and imposter.
They along with with a host of villagers went to the Hakuin and roundly abused and scolded him.
All he said in response to their angry accusations was:
“Is that so?”
When the child was born they again went to Hakuin, and scolding him with foul tongues, and they left the new born infant with him.
The Zen Master again just said, “Is that so.” This was his only response.
He accepted the child. He started nourishing and taking very care of the child. He begged milk from his neighbours and everything else he needed to care for the infant. By this time his reputation had long come to an end, and he was an object of mockery. Days ran into weeks, weeks into months and months into a full year.
Now there is something called conscience in human beings, and the young girl was tortured by her conscience. One day she could not hold it in any more and disclosed to her parents the name of the child’s real father. A man who worked in a fish market and had been her secret lover and she had falsely accused Hakuin to conceal his identity.
The parents were aghast at this revelation and were filled with deep remorse, sorrow and regret. They along with dozens of villagers rushed to Hakuin, tearfully bowed and begged for his forgiveness as they narrated the whole story.
Hakuin listened to them and simply responded:
“Is that so.”
He gracefully returned the infant it to its mother with the same poise as he had accepted it from her.
Thank you for these inspirational quotes! Victor Frankl is one of my absolute favorites! It is so important to remember his wisdom during these current challenging times.
I’m reading his book ‘Man Search for meaning’ and this post came timely, have you checked it out before, Laura?
I think so too.
Agreed.
Love Viktor Frankl! He learned his wisdom ❤️
So true. Keep on keeping on.
thanks for sharing, it has been awhile since I read any of Frankl's work. You have inspired me to dust it off.
#1: It's a supply and demand thing. I wrote about that here: https://danstocke.substack.com/p/life-is-finite if you're curious.
#2: This may sound crude or crass but: farts and getting kicked in the nethers gets laughs all over the place. If we analyze them, they are both childish, to be sure, but also involve an understanding of the human condition. Our universal humor is based on the things we all understand.
#3: Our comparative minisculeness creates a supply and demand thing. See #1.
In 1944 Viktor Frankl and the surviving members of his family were transported to Auschwitz, where his mother and brother were murdered in the gas chambers. His wife, Tilly died of typhus in Bergen Belsen. Viktor survived and wrote a book ‘Man’s Search for Meaning’ which speaks of his experience in the Nazi concentration camps. Here is a small excerpt.
“The experiences of camp life show that a man does have a choice of action. They were enough examples, often of a heroic nature, which proved that apathy could be overcome, irritability suppressed. Man can preserve a vestige of spiritual freedom, of independence of mind, even in such terrible conditions of psychic and physical stress. We who lived in the 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 away 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 way, the way in which a man accepts his fate, and all the suffering that it entails, the way in which he takes up his cross, gives him ample opportunity- even in the most difficult circumstances- to add a deeper meaning to life.”
To those that claim that we have no free will, including many intellectuals, we do have the freedom to choose our belief systems and values that we hold near and dear to our hearts.
Victor Frankl is one of my favourites. His museum in Vienna is wonderful.
There is a museum on him in Vienna?
Yes, I am not sure if it is his house where he used to live, or just work, I can't remember. But it is a small museum in Vienna. I have been twice, it is good.
Thank you. Frankl has walked me through much of my life, holding my hand and holding my survival. I received a great mark for an essay on Frankl after our first meeting in meaning. But the mark was redundant in comparison to the learning he gave me for living. Whenever walking. feels like trudging, when writing feels like a burden, his soul lifts mine. For that I am ever grateful.
This wisedom helped me when I questioned the value of my life, and contemplated suicide. I found the meaning for my life.
Thank you for putting these all together! Frankl's quotes have this powerful message that meaning is an active pursuit, not a passive discovery.
Most of us suffer from existential loneliness and we feel no connection from other people or Mother Nature in all its Beauty. Our addictions to our smartphones is a way to keep our minds off of the truth of ‘interconnectedness’ or as Thich Nhat Hanh calls it: ‘interbeing’. It’s a paradox when we ask if our smartphone addiction is the cause of this loneliness or is this loneliness the reason we turn to our smartphones? A Catch 22! The following segment from Alice Walker’s Pulitzer Prize winning novel, The Color Purple is the most perfect example of interbeing that I have ever seen:
‘It?’ I ast.
‘Yeah, it. God ain’t a he or a she but a It.”
‘But what do it look like?’ I ast.
Don’t look like nothing, she say. It ain’t a picture show. It ain’t something you can look at apart from anything else, including yourself. I believe God is everything, say Shug. Everything that is or ever was or ever will be. And when you feel that, and be happy to feel that, you’ve found it.
She say- My first step from the old white man was first. Then air. Then birds. Then other people. But one day I was sitting quiet and feeling like a motherless child; which I was, it come to me!:that feeling of being part of everything; not separate at all. I knew that if I cut a tree, my arm would bleed. And I laughed and I cried and I ran all around the house. I knew just what it was. In fact, when it happen, you can’t miss it.” Alice Walker from “The Color Purple”
'I knew that if I cut a tree, my arm would bleed.;
Thank-you. When I first read this it put a thorn in my heart. But I have used it on occasion, well just to remind people of the Holocaust, but as an argument against influential intellectuals who claim that we have no free will. (Brian Greene, Richard Dawkins, Sam Harris). And for the most part we don't have a hell of a lot of control over what happens in the world, but we can choose our belief systems, how we respond to what the world throws at us and the values (remember how they used to be a thing) that we hold near and dear to our hearts. But I have used it twice in two of my essays, but this quote is at the very end, because it would be a travesty to write anything else after writing Frankl's words.
Thank-you
This reminds of my favorite class in high-school, philosophy. Thank you!
Love reading these quotes again. Man's Search for Meaning is a profound book!
Question 2 answer...it seems that a lot of cultures find clumsiness and situational comedy to be funny.
Thank you for this! I love his take on being human.
#5…
Zen Master Hakuin was praised and respected by his neighbours for his simplicity, virtue and the purity of his life. Near the place where he lived there was a food store. The owner of the food store had a beautiful unmarried daughter.
One day she was discovered to be pregnant. Her parents flew into a rage. They wanted to know who was the father, but she would not give them the name. After repeated scolding and harassment, she finally confessed to them that Hakuin was the father of the unborn child. The parents were furious that the holy man they had respected all this time had turned out to be such a charlatan and imposter.
They along with with a host of villagers went to the Hakuin and roundly abused and scolded him.
All he said in response to their angry accusations was:
“Is that so?”
When the child was born they again went to Hakuin, and scolding him with foul tongues, and they left the new born infant with him.
The Zen Master again just said, “Is that so.” This was his only response.
He accepted the child. He started nourishing and taking very care of the child. He begged milk from his neighbours and everything else he needed to care for the infant. By this time his reputation had long come to an end, and he was an object of mockery. Days ran into weeks, weeks into months and months into a full year.
Now there is something called conscience in human beings, and the young girl was tortured by her conscience. One day she could not hold it in any more and disclosed to her parents the name of the child’s real father. A man who worked in a fish market and had been her secret lover and she had falsely accused Hakuin to conceal his identity.
The parents were aghast at this revelation and were filled with deep remorse, sorrow and regret. They along with dozens of villagers rushed to Hakuin, tearfully bowed and begged for his forgiveness as they narrated the whole story.
Hakuin listened to them and simply responded:
“Is that so.”
He gracefully returned the infant it to its mother with the same poise as he had accepted it from her.
(Copied from https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/so-nithya-shanti )