Viktor Frankl Man's Search For Meaning

[ArathornJax]

Has anyone read this book and what did you think of it? I just got it and find it quite interesting. He had the option of leaving Austria before Germany took it over and stayed to honor his parents and take care of them. As a result, he was in four camps and lost his parents, his brother and his pregnant wife. One of his quotes that I am really reflecting on is perhaps nothing new, but something very difficult I think in our society to achieve.

Here is the quote:

"Don't aim at success -- the more you aim at it and make it a target the more you are going to miss it. For success, like happiness, cannot be pursued: it must ensure, and it only does so as the unintended side-effect of one's dedication to a cause greater than oneself or as the by-product of one's surrender to a person other than oneself. Happiness must happen, and the same holds for success: you have to let it happen by not caring about it. I want you to listen to what your conscience commands you to do and go on to carry it out to the best of your knowledge. Then you will live to see that in the long run -- in the long run, I say! -- success will follow you precisely because you had forgotten to of it."

I do think there is wisdom here. I think often in our culture in the US we think we have to pursue success but in reality if we give ourselves to higher ideals and stay true to those ideals, we will find success. It seems to be of the same message of Polonius' to his son Laertes in the notion of"
"This above all: to thine own self be true,
And it must follow, as the night the day,
Thou canst not then be false to any man." (especially to one self)

Anyway, do you agree with this notion of success? In line with another thread does success change with age? I think it does. I look forward to comments on this.

Also, a theme of the book that Frankl argues is that none of us can avoid suffering (I agree) but we can choose "how to cope with it, find meaning in it and move forward with renewed purpose. His theory is called logotherapy from the Greek word logos (meaning) holds that our primary drive in life is not pleasure as Freud maintains, but the discovery and pursuit of what we personally find meaningful."

If others are interested, I would love to discuss this over the summer as I read it (it is available in most public libraries in the US). It's not that any ideas are perhaps new, but I find refreshing or renewing.

Edit: If I put this in the wrong thread please move it and edit out this comment.

[elfshadow]

I have read this book twice and also wrote a paper on it for one of my courses. I'd love to have a discussion about it! I don't have much time for a well-thought-out post now, but I will get to it as soon as I have the chance.

[Lalaith]

I haven't read it, but it's on my list of books to read.

[ArathornJax]

I read the first forty pages tonight and wow! I have to say this book has simply reached out to me and is confirming old beliefs while introducing new ones, causing me to reflect on what the meaning of life truly is. His notion that "the salvation of man is in love and through love" just speaks volumes in my opinion. Regardless of religious convictions or not being religious, I think the truth of that statement is one of those truths that sticks out. His thoughts of his wife and carrying on a conversation with her and the image of the bird flying down reinforces how this notion of love allowed him to carry on.

In reflecting over many things over the last year it is this notion of love that I really believes carries us through difficulties and suffering. If the notion of suffering is one that exits because of life itself, and that being alive means we will suffer, than the notion that love can ease the suffering and lead one through it to a new view or outcome is one that I espouse. It is those memories, and the images of those we love that carry us on. I could go on, but I'll leave it there for now. I find so much in this book worthy of discussion and look forward to others comments on it. It is a book that I truly could read in one night if I had no obligations the next day.

[Voronwë the Faithful]

I haven't read it, but I've been exposed a little bit to Frankl's ideas through Steven Covey, who I have read.

(I'm going to move this thread to the Library, but I'll leave a shadow in Bag End.)

[Rowanberry]

I think that I've read this book long ago, must have been in my teens, and I feel that a reread could be in order. I must see if I can find it in the library or come across it at some second hand bookstore.

[ArathornJax]

I finished this a couple of weeks ago and all I have to say is that I really enjoyed it a lot. If you get a chance pick it up and give it a read (most libraries have a copy or two).