From the first time I read Man’s Search for Meaning by Viktor Frankl many years ago, it has been one of my favorite books. Viktor Frankl spent three horrifying years at Auschwitz and other Nazi prisons during World War II. When he gained his freedom, he learned that almost his entire family had been killed. Man’s Search for Meaning is his description of his experiences and his beliefs about the higher meaning in life. A really amazing book with so much to make you think.
There is so much basic human truth in it - in addition to being such an incredible story of survival and triumph over the worst that mankind can throw at a person. Here’s a rather long quote, but one that I feel is important:
“The way in which a man accepts his fate and all the suffering it entails, the way in which he takes up his cross, gives him ample opportuntiy - even under the most difficult circumstances - to add a deeper meaning to his life. It may remain brave, dignified and unselfish. Or in the bitter fight for self-preservation he may forget his human dignity and become no more than an animal. Here lies the chance for a man either to make use of or to forego the opportunities of attaining the moral values that a difficult situation may afford him. And this decides whether he is worthy of his sufferings or not.”
That just reminds me of John McCain and how he handled being a POW during the Viet Nam war.
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