"...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." ~ Viktor Frankl from Man's Search for Meaning
This message is the cornerstone of Frankl's philosophy and, of course, is echoed among the great teachers (many have Notes available on their work):
From Marcus Aurelius in his Meditations: "Your mind will be like its habitual thoughts; for the soul becomes dyed with the color of its thoughts. Soak it then in such trains of thoughts as, for example: Where life is possible at all, a right life is possible." And "If you are distressed by anything external, the pain is not due to the thing itself but to your own estimate of it; and this you have the power to revoke at any moment."
To another Stoic philosopher (and former Roman slave), Epictetus, in The Enchiridion: "We cannot choose our external circumstances, but we can always choose how we respond to them."
To Jesus: "Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things."
To Lao-tzu in the Tao te Ching: "Hold on to the center and make up your mind to rejoice in this paradise called life."
To the Buddha in the Dhammapada: "Our life is shaped by our mind. We become what we think."
To Martin Luther King, Jr.: "The ultimate measure of a man is not where he stands in moments of comfort but where he stands at times of challenge and discovery."
To Dan Millman in The Way of the Peaceful Warrior: "Pain is a relatively objective, physical phenomenon; suffering is our psychological resistance to what happens. Events may create physical pain, but they do not in themselves create suffering. Resistance creates suffering. Stress happens when your mind resists what is...The only problem in your life is your mind's resistance to life as it unfolds."
To Carlos Castaneda: "The basic difference between an ordinary man and a warrior is that a warrior takes everything as a challenge, while an ordinary man takes everything as a blessing or a curse." And, "The trick is in what one emphasizes. We either make ourselves miserable, or we make ourselves strong. The amount of work is the same."
To Norman Vincent Peale in The Power of Positive Thinking: "Become a possibilitarian. No matter how dark things seem to be or actually are, raise your sights and see possibilities - always see them, for they're always there."
And countless others.
How's YOUR attitude?!?
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PhilosophersNotes on Man's Search for Meaning by Viktor Frankl | |||||
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