Most recently, I was with a group of women who, much to my dismay, had never read nor even heard of Viktor Frankl's Man's Search for Meaning.
Like a preacher who believes his flock is lost without the bible, so too I believe, are people without Frankl's perspective on life.
Several years ago, mid school year, I asked the board if we could bring Man's Search for Meaning into our senior curriculum. They agreed and it has become a life changing staple of our students. Imagine incorporating his experience from imprisonment in Auschwitz prison camp into the young and impressionable age of a high school senior. A seventeen or eighteen year old. Unfortunately, it doesn't resonate with every senior, but for those who knock, the door opens. Their annotations are profuse, color coded, and rainbow post-it notes create a work of art. Throughout the year, they often bring up a quote or a personal interpretation to how the book changed their lives or how it helped them find meaning in trials.
Over the summer, teachers were asked to read Man's Search for Meaning, and upon our first day back for teacher's week, Deb led the discussion of the book. Teachers were as moved and inspired as students. They wrote some of the most impactful quotes on the board:
"Love is the ultimate and highest goal to which man can aspire" (37).
"No one has the right to do wrong, not even if wrong has been done to them" (90-91).
"How beautiful the world could be" (40).
"He who has a why to live for can bear almost any how" (76).
"Everything can be taken from man but one thing: the last of human freedoms--to choose one's attitude in any given set of circumstances" (66).
"He said no word but shook my hand and calmly left my office. In some way suffering ceases to be suffering at the moment it finds a meaning" (113).
"Once faith is gone, the will to live seldom returns" (8).
"He is not only unhappy, but also ashamed of being unhappy" (114).
"If architects want to strengthen a decrepit arch, they increase the load which is laid upon it, for thereby the parts are joined more firmly together" (105).
"Life is like being at the dentist. You always think the worst is still to come, and yet is is over already" (72).
"The attempt to develop a sense of humor and to see things in a humorous light is some kind of trick learned while mastering the art of living" (44).
"We give our suffering meaning by the way we respond to it" (forward x).
"The salvation of man is through love and in love" (37).
"Man's search for meaning is the primary motivation in his life" (99).
After typing the quotes from the photos I took of the white board, I am inspired once again to read Man's Search for Meaning.
Like a preacher who believes his flock is lost without the bible, so too I believe, are people without Frankl's perspective on life.
Several years ago, mid school year, I asked the board if we could bring Man's Search for Meaning into our senior curriculum. They agreed and it has become a life changing staple of our students. Imagine incorporating his experience from imprisonment in Auschwitz prison camp into the young and impressionable age of a high school senior. A seventeen or eighteen year old. Unfortunately, it doesn't resonate with every senior, but for those who knock, the door opens. Their annotations are profuse, color coded, and rainbow post-it notes create a work of art. Throughout the year, they often bring up a quote or a personal interpretation to how the book changed their lives or how it helped them find meaning in trials.
Over the summer, teachers were asked to read Man's Search for Meaning, and upon our first day back for teacher's week, Deb led the discussion of the book. Teachers were as moved and inspired as students. They wrote some of the most impactful quotes on the board:
"Love is the ultimate and highest goal to which man can aspire" (37).
"No one has the right to do wrong, not even if wrong has been done to them" (90-91).
"How beautiful the world could be" (40).
"He who has a why to live for can bear almost any how" (76).
"Everything can be taken from man but one thing: the last of human freedoms--to choose one's attitude in any given set of circumstances" (66).
"He said no word but shook my hand and calmly left my office. In some way suffering ceases to be suffering at the moment it finds a meaning" (113).
"Once faith is gone, the will to live seldom returns" (8).
"He is not only unhappy, but also ashamed of being unhappy" (114).
"If architects want to strengthen a decrepit arch, they increase the load which is laid upon it, for thereby the parts are joined more firmly together" (105).
"Life is like being at the dentist. You always think the worst is still to come, and yet is is over already" (72).
"The attempt to develop a sense of humor and to see things in a humorous light is some kind of trick learned while mastering the art of living" (44).
"We give our suffering meaning by the way we respond to it" (forward x).
"The salvation of man is through love and in love" (37).
"Man's search for meaning is the primary motivation in his life" (99).
After typing the quotes from the photos I took of the white board, I am inspired once again to read Man's Search for Meaning.
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