Quotes About Adversity

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. And

lack of sleep, insuffcient food and various mental stresses may suggest that the inmates were bound to react in certain ways, in the final analysis it becomes clear that the sort of person the prisoner became was the result of an inner decision, and not the result of camp influences alone. Fundamentally, therefore, any man can, even under such circumstances

De esa observación dedujo que no es el sufrimiento en sí mismo el que madura o enturbia al hombre, es el hombre el que da sentido al sufrimiento. Hasta tal punto resulta esencial la postura del hombre que Frankl le arrancó al Lager una gran lección existencial: «El sufrimiento, en cierto modo, deja de ser sufrimiento cuando encuentra un sentido...».

He describes poignantly the prisoners who gave up on life, who had lost all hope for a future and were inevitably the first to die.

men who comforted others and who gave away their last piece of bread who survived the longest – and who offered proof that everything can be taken away from us except the ability to choose our attitude in any given set of circumstances.

The basis for any predictions would be represented by biological, psychological or sociological conditions. Yet one of the main features of human existence is the capacity to rise above such conditions, to grow beyond them. Man is capable of changing the world for the better if possible, and of changing himself for the better if necessary.

man who let himself decline because he could not see any future goal found himself occupied with retrospective thoughts. In a different connection, we have already spoken of the tendency there was to look into the past, to help make the present, with all its horrors, less real. But in robbing the present of its reality there lay a certain danger.

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. There is a scene in Arthur Miller's

Pronto, el prisionero construía, gracias a la insensibilidad, un muy necesario escudo protector.

Finally, Frankl's most enduring insight, one that I have called on often in my own life and in countless counseling situations: Forces beyond your control can take away everything you possess except one thing, your freedom to choose how you will respond to the situation.

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. And

words of Nietzsche, "He who has a Why to live for can bear almost any How.

Such people forgot that often it is just such an exceptionally difficult external situation which gives man the opportunity to grow spiritually beyond himself. Instead of taking the camp's difficulties as a test of their inner strength, they did not take their life seriously and despised it as something of no consequence. They preferred to close their eyes and to live in the past. Life for such people became meaningless.

Even if things take such a good in one of a thousand cases, who can guarantee that in your case it will not happen one day, sooner or later? But in the first place, you have to survive in order to see that day dawn, and from now on the responsibility for survival does not leave you.

life holds a potential meaning under any conditions, even the most miserable ones.

O mundo está numa situação ruim. Porém tudo vai piorar ainda mais se cada um de nós não fizer o melhor que pode.

No nos gusta hablar de nuestras experiencias. Los supervivientes no necesitamos ninguna explicación. Y los demás no comprenderían cómo nos sentíamos en el campo y cómo nos sentimos ahora».

I think it was Lessing who once said There are things which must cause you lose your reason or you have none to lose. An abnormal reaction to an abnormal situation is normal behavior.

can life retain its potential meaning in spite of its tragic aspects? After all, 'saying yes to life in spite of everything,' (...) presupposes that life is potentially meaningful under any conditions, even those which are most miserable. And this in turn presupposes the human capacity to creatively turn life's negative aspects into something positive or constructive. In other words, what matters is to make the best of any given situation.

What you have experienced, no power on earth can take from

loss of hope and courage can have a deadly effect.

If one cannot change a situation that causes his suffering, he can still choose his attitude.

A man who looks miserable, down and out, sick and emaciated, and who cannot manage hard physical labor any longer … that is a 'Moslem.' Sooner or later, usually sooner, every 'Moslem' goes to the gas chambers. Therefore, remember: shave, stand and walk smartly; then you need not be afraid of gas

Such people forgot that often it is just such an exceptionally difficult external situation which gives man the opportunity to grow spiritually beyond himself.