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Man's Search for Meaning Paperback – June 1, 2006

by Viktor E. Frankl (Author), William J. Winslade (Afterword), Harold S. Kushner (Foreword)

4,122 customer reviews

in Popular Psychology Counseling

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Man's Search for Meaning
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Psychiatrist Viktor Frankl's memoir has riveted generations of readers with its descriptions of life in Nazi death camps and its lessons for spiritual survival. Between 1942 and 1945 Frankl labored in four different camps, including Auschwitz, while his parents, brother, and pregnant wife perished. Based on his own experience and the experiences of others he treated later in his practice, Frankl argues that we cannot avoid suffering but we can choose how to cope with it, find meaning in it, and move forward with renewed purpose. Frankl's theory-known as logotherapy, from the Greek word logos ("meaning")-holds that our primary drive in life is not pleasure, as Freud maintained, but the discovery and pursuit of what we personally find meaningful.

At the time of Frankl's death in 1997, Man's Search for Meaning had sold more than 10 million copies in twenty-four languages. A 1991 reader survey for the Library of Congress that asked readers to name a "book that made a difference in your life" found Man's Search for Meaning among the ten most influential books in America.

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One of the great books of our time. —Harold S. Kushner, author of When Bad Things Happen to Good People

"One of the outstanding contributions to psychological thought in the last fifty years."—Carl R. Rogers (1959)

"An enduring work of survival literature." —New York Times

"An accessible edition of the enduring classic. The spiritual account of the Holocaust and the description of logotherapy meets generations' need for hope."—Donna O. Dziedzic (PLA) AAUP Best of the Best Program

About the Author

Viktor E. Frankl was professor of neurology and psychiatry at the University of Vienna Medical School until his death in 1997. His twenty-nine books have been translated into twenty-one languages. During World War II, he spent three years in Auschwitz, Dachau, and other concentration camps.

Harold S. Kushner is rabbi emeritus at Temple Israel in Natick, Massachusetts, and the author of bestselling books including When Bad Things Happen to Good People, Living a Life That Matters, and When All You’ve Ever Wanted Isn’t Enough.

William J. Winslade is a philosopher, lawyer, and psychoanalyst who teaches psychiatry, medical ethics, and medical jurisprudence at the University of Texas Medical School in Galveston.

Paperback: 184 pages
Publisher: Beacon Press; 1 edition (June 1, 2006)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 080701429X
ISBN-13: 978-0807014295
Product Dimensions: 4.2 x 0.5 x 6.7 inches
Shipping Weight: 3.5 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
Average Customer Review: 4,122 customer reviews
Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #94 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- #1 in Books > Health, Fitness & Dieting > Psychology & Counseling > Counseling
- #1 in Books > Biographies & Memoirs > Ethnic & National > Jewish
- #1 in Books > Health, Fitness & Dieting > Psychology & Counseling > Psychoanalysis

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The deepest insights in the most simple words.

November 18, 2016

Format: PaperbackVerified Purchase

If you're in pain, read this book. If you're scared, read this book. If you are lost, read this book. If you are happy, read this book. If you have time, read this book. If you don't have time, read this book. Read this book, read this book.

"We who lived in the 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."

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Steven J. O'malley

A classic

September 23, 2016

Format: PaperbackVerified Purchase

I read this in college and ordered again to read some 40 years later. Frankl relates the severe conditions in the concentration camp. Those without any purpose seemed to perish. Those that had developed purpose and meaning to the harsh conditions got out of bed every morning to face another unbearable day. this book is a classic. anything less than 5 stars would be a reflection on me.

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Amazing story, well-written, another life-changing book

December 31, 2013

Format: PaperbackVerified Purchase

Viktor Frankl, an Austrian Jew, studied neurology and psychiatry with a focus on depression and suicide years before being arrested and deported by the Nazis in 1942. He defied odds by lasting three years in concentration camps. He lost his parents, brother, and his wife, who was pregnant. As doctors were in short supply in the camps, Frankl, after working as a slave laborer for some time, was able to work as a physician until his liberation.

As his work prior to his time in the concentration camps had focused on depression and the prevention of suicide, he turned his focus to his own survival story and the people with whom he interacted in the camps. Why did some survive and others perish? What gave people the will to live? What gives life meaning?

Some favorite moments:

•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.
•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 our suffering meaning by the way in which we respond to it.
•Forces beyond your control can take away everything you possess except one thing, you 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.
•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 believe have to impart: The salvation of man is through love and in love.
•Love goes very far beyond the physical person of the beloved. It finds its deepest meaning in his spiritual being, his inner self. Whether or not he is actually present, whether or not he is still alive at all, ceases somehow to be of importance.
•From all this we may learn that there are two races of men in this world, but only these two - the "race" of the decent man and the "race" of the indecent man. Both are found everywhere; they penetrate into all groups of society. No group consists entirely of decent or indecent people. In this sense, no group is of "pure race" - and therefore one occasionally found a decent fellow among the camp guards.
•Now, being free, they thought they could use their freedom licentiously and ruthlessly. The only thing that had changed for them was the they were now the oppressors instead of the oppressed...Only slowly could these men be guided back to the commonplace truth that no one has the right to do wrong, not even if wrong has been done to them.
•"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."
•So, let us be alert - alert in a twofold sense: Since Auschwitz we know what man is capable of. And since Hiroshima we know what is at stake.

Highly recommend.

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Robert A. Hall

A must for teens and young adults

February 9, 2018

Format: PaperbackVerified Purchase

This wonderful book was recommended to me by my 17-year-old granddaughter, Britnye, who read it for school. My congratulations to her for reading and recommending such a serious, important work, and to her teacher for assigning it. It was first published in 1945, the year before I was born, and 12 million copies have been printed in 24 languages. Many people I mention it to have already read it…where was I? Frankl was a Jewish psychiatrist living in Vienna when he was arrested by the Nazis. He could have fled to America before that, but stayed to help his elderly parents. They died in the camps, as did his first wife. He had almost completed his book on logotherapy, but it was taken from him along with everything when he was sent to Auschwitz. He survived four different concentration camps. While Freud held that man seeks pleasure and Adler that man seeks power or control, logotherapy holds that people seek meaning in their lives. Frankl recounts his time in the horror of the camps and noticed that those who gave up, who had no goal to live for, died, while many of those who did have such a goal still found meaning in life and often survived. Of course, a twist of fate could kill you in the camps anyway. I believe what Frankl says. In my books, “Advice for my Granddaughter” and its companion, “Advice for Boys,” I write that the secret of happiness is to find something you care about more than yourself, be it your family, your church, your work, rescuing dogs or people, your country or the US Marines. I think that is another way to say you must find meaning. Frankl writes that people cannot find happiness, they mush find meaning in their lives and then happiness ensues. My favorite quote in the book is, “I recommend that the Statue of Liberty on the East Coast be supplemented by a Statue of Responsibility on the West Coast.” Frankl believes that much drug and alcohol addiction come about because the addicts have not found meaning in their lives. I wish more people, especially teens and young adults, would read this short volume. --Robert A. Hall

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Mtlnative

Worth reading especially in today's world

January 16, 2018

Format: Kindle EditionVerified Purchase

When I first started reading Man's Search.... last week I was repulsed by the descriptions of the concentration camp experiences. How could humans be like that? Even though of course we have known about them for 70 years now, it is horrible to read about them. My temptation was to put the book aside, I told someone it was "depressing." But how glad I am that I persevered (because it was our Book Club choice this month.) Ultimately, this book is a hopeful paen to humankind's ability to rise above all suffering, to find our own individual meaning to our existence and in that way make sense of why we are in the world and why we should continue in it, doing our very best. This book transcends religion even as I recognize so much of what Frankl writes in my own religious beliefs.
Truly a must read for people as soon as they are old enough to understand it--perhaps mid teenage years.

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K. Sutherland

Profound and uplifting

Insight as relevant today as ever.

Published 2 days ago

Anna Lee

One Star

The novel is fantastic. The size of this book was so small and the binding and pages were crippled.

Published 3 days ago

Benjamin Schoenthal

Five Stars

Great Read, excellent in depth discussion.

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Four Stars

great book! however the front cover fell off. I think I got a used one

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Carlos

Perfect!

Great book
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Book came in perfect condition

Simply 5 stars !

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Arvind Ojha

Extraordinay ..

Excellent Book..Mr . Frankl style of thinking and views on life is deeply inspirational and thought provoking.I recommend this gem to everyone.

Published 5 days ago

Rikki79

A must read.

I reread this every so often, it gives me perspective.

Published 5 days ago

Brent

Great book

Everyone should read this book. Simple, yet moving. Wil probably read it again sometime in my life. Recommended to everyone no matter what age

Published 5 days ago

Terry Ellis

Excellent book that was not what I expected

Excellent book that was not what I expected. This book answered a lot of questions for me and forced me introspect about my life and what I can do.

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