I started this book hoping (perhaps naïvely) to finish with an understanding of the general meaning of my life. Using the analogy of a film (where each frame represents each moment in life), Frankl argues that the general meaning of a life only becomes clear when the whole thing has been lived, so rather than searching for a general meaning now, we might be better served by searching for the meaning in each moment (or 'frame' of the film) that we live.
How? Frankl argues that we are free to choose our attitude in response to any circumstances, however dire* (he might well be regarded authoritative on this point, having been imprisoned in four Nazi concentration camps), and that - armed with this credo - we can find meaning through: (1) creating a work or doing a (virtuous) deed; (2) experiencing or encountering someone (doing something or being with someone you love); or (3) enduring unavoidable suffering. We are warned against relying solely on the first option (which risks conflation of external validation with meaning), reminded of the virtues of finding meaning via the second, and advised that enduring avoidable suffering is masochistic - not heroic.
In seeking meaning, Frankl invites us to act responsibly and in accordance with our (presumably virtuous) values. Not to think: "what do I want / what can I get from this situation?", but rather 'what does life expect of me in this situation?' - and then taking that action.
These are the teachings of Frankl's 'logotherapy' (from the Greek 'logos', meaning 'meaning'). Logotherapy invites its subjects to look to the future (i.e. choosing actions and finding meaning) rather than to the past (i.e. analysing trauma) to soothe 'existential vacuum' and help overcome psychic pain. It reminds me of Alfred Adler's concept of 'contribution to Community' and focus on our 'life tasks' to mitigate existential angst and attain tranquility.
My take: we can find meaning in each moment of our life if we strive for the most responsible action that aligns with our (virtuous) values. That might be something as momentous as applying brushstrokes to a magnificent canvas, or as banal as doing the dishes (even when it's not your turn). In practice, it probably means dedicating meaningful time toward a creative pursuit, spending quality time with loved ones, and bravely and mindfully weathering the storm of unavoidable suffering (when it inevitably arises). I find this idea compelling and will experiment with implementing these tenets of logotherapy in my own life over the coming months.
*In defence of this assertion, Frankl points to his experience in concentration camps, where some prisoners acted ruthlessly toward their fellow inmates, while others acted with grace and selflessness, despite experiencing the same horrendous conditions. I couldn't help but question whether the life experiences and mental constitution of the prisoners before they entered the camps might have had some impact on whether they turned out to be a 'swine' or a 'saint'. Is this really proof that to act in a good or evil way is always a choice? That anyone demonstrated selflessness in spite of the cold, hunger, cruelty, and illness rife in Nazi concentration camps perhaps shows that at least some humans are able to choose between good and evil regardless of their conditions.
A few of my favourite extracts:
“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 ensue, 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."
"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."
"Logotherapy conceives of conscience as a prompter which, if need be, indicates the direction in which we have to move in a given life situation."
"People tend to see only the stubble fields of transitoriness but overlook and forget the full granaries of the past into which they have brought the harvest of their lives: the deeds done, the loves loved, and last but not least, the sufferings they have gone through with courage and dignity."
p.36 Everlasting misfortune does have one blessing, that it ends up by toughening those whom it constantly afflicts.
p. 38 It was nature's intention that there should be no need of great equipment for a good life; every individual can make himself happy. External goods are of trivial importance and without much influence in either direction: prosperity does not elevate the sage and adversity does not depress him. For he has always made the effort to rely as much as possible on himself and to derive all delight from himself.
p. 39 Never have I trusted Fortune, even when she seemed to offer peace. All those blessings which she kindly bestowed on me - money, public office, influence - I relegated to a place whence she could claim them back without bothering me. I kept a wide gap between them and me, with the result that she has taken them away, not torn them away. No man has been shattered by the blows of Fortune unless he was first deceived by her favours. Those who loved her gifts as if they were their own for ever, who wanted to be admired on account of them, are laid low and grieve when the false and transient pleasures desert their vain and childish minds, ignorant of every stable pleasure. Everything (even the sun and stars) is changing all the time, we should delight in novelty rather than rail against it.
p. 44 So fate has decreed that nothing maintains the same condition forever
p. 45 only the most worthless of our possessions should come into the power of another. Whatever is best for a human being lies outside human control: it can be neither given nor taken away. The world you see, nature's greatest and most glorious creation, and the human mind which gazes and wonders at it, and is the most splendid part of it, these are our own everlasting possessions and will remain with us as long as we ourselves remain.
p. 48-49 The body's needs are few: it wants to be free from cold, to banish hunger and thirst with nourishment; if we long for anything more we are exerting ourselves to serve our vices, not our needs. We do not need to scour every ocean, or to load our bellies with the slaughter of animals, or to pluck shellfish from the unknown shores of the furthest sea.
p 52-53 It is the mind that creates our wealth, and this goes with us into exile, and in the harshest desert places it finds sufficient to nourish the body and revels in the enjoyment of its own goods. Money in no way concerns the mind any more than it concerns the gods. All those things which are revered by minds untaught and enslaved to their bodies - marble, gold, silver, great round polished tables - are earthly burdens which a soul pure and conscious of its nature cannot love: for it is light and unencumbered, and destined to soar aloft whenever it is released from the body.
p. 59 For to be afflicted with endless sorrow at the loss of someone very dear is foolish self-indulgence, and to feel none is inhuman callousness. The best compromise between love and good sense is both to feel longing and to conquer it.
p.61 I know that this is not something which is in our power and that no strong feeling is under our control, least of all that which arises from sorrow: for it is violent and violently resists every remedy. Sometimes we want to crush it and swallow down our groans, but through the pretended composure of our features the tears pour down. Sometimes we divert our mind with public shows or gladiatorial contests, but in the very midst of the distractions of the spectacles it is undermined by some little reminder of its loss. Therefore it is better to conquer our grief than to deceive it. For if it has withdrawn, being merely beguiled by pleasures and preoccupations, it starts up again and from its very respite gains force to savage is But the grief that has been conquered by reason is calmed forever.