What keeps a human being going? The purest answer to this question is perhaps to be found in the worst of places. Austrian psychiatrist, philosopher, and author Viktor Frankl spent three years in four different concentration camps. He was at the mercy of sadistic SS guards and the so-called “Capos:” prisoners with special privileges who willingly collaborated with the Nazis and were even more ruthless than their masters.
The camp inmates were constantly exposed to famine, sickness, slave labor, and the possibility of punishment or execution. There was no freedom. The prisoners moved around like a defenseless flock of sheep, kicked and beaten by their shepherds, stripped of all human dignity.
What’s left to live for in such a horrible place like a concentration camp? When they’ve taken all your liberties and possessions, and when death at short notice is almost inevitable, is there any reason not to give up on life? Viktor Frankl concluded that there’s always a reason to live even in the worst conditions: there’s always meaning in suffering. And if we can grasp this meaning – this star in the sky – we can overcome even the most painful circumstances.
According to Viktor Frankl, it’s not pleasure nor success and power that essentially drives people; it’s finding something – a purpose, a meaning – to live and even die for (Finding Something to Live and Die For | The Philosophy of Viktor Frankl).
The quotes in this video are from Viktor Frankl’s book ‘Man’s Search for Meaning’.
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#viktorfrankl #meaningoflife #purposeinlife
00:00 – Intro
01:46 – The great divide
07:29 – Why meaning
10:38 – Finding meaning
source
Honestly for me the greatest purpose of my life is to be better than yesterday in every aspect of life i want to see how much i can learn with the time i have here, leveling up everyday some of you might say what is the purpose of that after all u too are going to die my answer to that is we all know little about life perhaps a spoon of water from the whole ocean so in a way we are all wrong so we act based on wrong knowledge so i never want to hurt myself because once i act based on a wrong idea there is no going back. 2nd reason is because just like the solo leveling movie we all like the idea of leveling up getting things is what makes us happy not having things one could one day wake up with 100 million in his bank account yet he feels empty after a while while the guy who worked his whole life to get 10 million will live his life in a bliss and enjoy it
Never forget, governments are legitimate!
Life really needs a purpose to thrive.
Just find meaning bro
It wasnt really life's purpose, it was that they wouldn't let grief or sadness consume them
r u saying I should kill myself
love it ,thanks
THERE IS ZERO MEANING ….. LIFE IS A JOKE .. DEATH IS APPROACHING
Have children, they are purpose
thank you for making this video.
Viktor Frankl is conceited. In a world where most necessary jobs are meaningless, it's rare that anyone will have a purpose to die for.
People need to go back to the transcendent and realize that this life is not the end.
Too long…. Too much stories… shifting focus
Honestly reading his book was so so so disappointing to me, I've been depressed and suicidal for half of my life and tried pretty much anything you could possibly advice me (except therapy bc I have no money) and I saw a lot of depressed and suicidal people recommending it saying that it changed their life and saved them even but for me it was a waste of time fr, I would've been better off not reading it at all. He doesn't say anything exactly meaningful there he simply describes his life in concentration camp and the stages of trauma (from psychological point of view, as in scientific not lyrical) he was going through in that time. I have never read anything about concentration camps before, all I knew is that it was very bad and that was enough for me, I didn't need to know further, I'm very sensitive to description of traumatic events and since I already have my own trauma I don't need to traumatize myself further with things I can very well avoid. So needless to say I was obviously traumatized reading that and couldn't sleep several nights are that. While the stages he described were something I knew long ago already and experienced myself even so as I said there was nothing exactly informative or meaningful in there. I remember the scene where he was trying to stop a couple of other people from committing suicide and he was talking to them about their life and he said that one of them had his mother waiting for him at home so he should live for her and another had a meaningful carrier he loved so he should live for his carrier. And then he concludes that everyone actually has something like that that anchors them to life and make them want to live, it's just that not everyone sees that through the prism of suffering. I rolled my eyes at that part. Like wow such a great advice thank you I clearly never thought of that before 🙄 is that really such a deep wisdom for it to be praised so much??? Some people really don't have anyone they love or who loves them don't have carrier they love don't have a desire to leave something in the world don't have anything, there's only void of meaningless suffering. For example I am this person. What should these people do? He fails to see that. I haven't seen anything else being praised so much like this book regarding helping with suicidal ideation so it was my last bet but it was still so useless. *Sigh*. I'm so tired of searching for this "meaning".
Good subject, bad video
Go read viktor's book
There is no meaning in life we go to sleep just to go to work and this cycle goes on for 70 years . Whats the point of all that?? I wish i was never born
7:13
Sometimes i wish i didn't exist
Life is meaningless, study absurdism by Albert Camus
In the end, it's not about how much time we have… it's about what we do with it.
Load of platitudes
There is no point. Suicide is a valid response to existence. But a waste of effort. Inertia is a law of reality. That is the only thing that keeps a body in motion. Physically and philosophically.
All yes and all rolls in some huge hamster wheel device of the human condition. Remember or don't, get up or fall behind. No one knows meaning as we perceive it. This one has no answer and the cliche is actually more true. Its simple, and is only what you make of it. Your choices can alter what you get to experience, but meaning, that's a human concept.
Finding purpose truly changes everything.
Life itself is meaningless, trying to find meaning for it is just trying to find an excuse to cope with.
I want a girlfriend to live and die for
Consumerism and spirituality are a reaction to the indifference and suffering in the universe. Neither is better than the other because they’re both just distractions. We all live and then die on an uncaring planet and whatever illusion makes us feel better then whatever 🤷
Most of our struggles and regrets do not come from failure itself, nor from not possessing something. They come from the awareness of missing out.
You may build an incredible career and miss out on love, friendship, or time. You may devote yourself to someone you love and miss opportunities that might have transformed your life. The suffering is not necessarily in the events themselves, but in the realization that another life was possible.
Eventually, every human being discovers that they did, in fact, miss something — some person, some moment, some version of themselves. Not because they failed entirely, but because to live at all is to choose, and to choose is to exclude.
The deepest discomfort comes from the knowledge of these exclusions, Knowing that you could have done something else.
Frankl said we can always choose our attitude, even in a concentration camp. That hit me. If he could find meaning there, I can find it in my boring Tuesday.
Everything in my life feels so tasteless right now. A forced curriculum, no time to hone my beloved hobbies. The only meaning I have right now are pieces of fiction that brings color and excitement to my heart… and I’ll continue to live to see more of these stories, now and future. This is my meaning
A life with a purpose or optimistic dream life is a good option but no life at all is still better than that.
IMPORTANT:The modern world is a stimulation cult. Even if it makes you miserable just consume, do or have more. We need something more man. Where's romance? Where's purity? These things have not suddenly gone extinct at the 20th century, but they haven't been omnipresent either. There here can't just be 90 years and then oblivion. Read the Bible guys, research Christ's life, death and the prophecies telling of Him. He is Truth in the fog. He is Life when death seems like it has won, when it feels like all you can do is delay it. He became a ransom for people too terrible to save themselves. We can't trust ourselves half the time, why trust others with our everything? Trust the One, Triune God, who became Man and gives the gift of faith and eternal life of His own will for His purposes, not something to earn or boast about! A faith that doesn't produce any deeds cannot save! Remember, internets anonymous, don't be scared to share. Come talk or ask about anything when you need it. Wild west friends, love yall, Christ bless❤
Just lost my job today, I hit 95% of the required 97% quality… It doesn't make any sense right?
Finding purpose in pain is powerful.
What if there is no hope for life to feel safe again
Man… The video started and ended with the quote itself, the latter part is appreciated….
For anyone searching for the purpose of life, I encourage you to read about it from the Islamic perspective with an open heart and a sincere desire for truth. You will find answers to questions about meaning, suffering, hope, and much more. Most importantly, be sincere with yourself throughout your journey in search of the truth
For those searching for the purpose of life, open your eyes and your heart.
Ask yourself: how do Palestinians continue to stand firm despite unimaginable suffering? How do Syrians, Yemenis, Sudanese, and countless others endure war, loss, and hardship, yet still hold on to hope? Why do so many continue to resist despair and keep moving forward?
Faith gives them strength when everything else is taken away. It gives them purpose in suffering, hope in darkness, and patience through trials.
Alhamdulillah for Islam, a faith that teaches resilience, gratitude, perseverance, and trust in Allah even in the most difficult circumstances.
Live and die. Simple.
– By doing things you find it meaning, the happyness will ultimately come as a side effect
– Meaning lives in what you experiencing, truly understanding/love someone, attitude to undesire circumstances
Is there a way to reconcile this philosophy with the notion that humans don't actually have free will as we know it?
I don’t know what I’m doing
There is no point. We are alone on this blue speck of dust in a vast universe of nothingness. An empty, lifeless void.
The question shifts from how to live to how to find one's meaning, and that can't be obtained through reasoning.
I think something gonna start changing after this 🙌