Yes To Life In Spite of Everything

by Viktor E. Frankl

'Viktor Frankl gives us the gift of looking at everything in life as an opportunity' Edith Eger, bestselling author of The Choice'Offers a path to finding hope even in these dark times' The New York Times A rediscovered masterpiece by the 16 million copy bestselling author of Man’s Search For MeaningJust months after his liberation from Auschwitz renowned psychiatrist Viktor E. Frankl delivered a series of talks revealing the foundations of his life-affirming philosophy. The psychologist, who would soon become world famous, explained his central thoughts on meaning, resilience and his conviction that every crisis contains opportunity. Published here for the very first time in English, Frankl's words resonate as strongly today as they did in 1946. Despite the unspeakable horrors in the camp, Frankl learnt from his fellow inmates that it is always possible to say ‘yes to life’ – a profound and timeless lesson for us all.With an introduction by Daniel Goleman.'Frankl’s is a voice that seems as necessary now as it was in the shadow of the Holocaust' Guardian

Genres: Psychology, Nonfiction, Philosophy, Self Help, History, Spirituality, Audiobook

141 pages, Kindle Edition

First published January 1, 1946

About the author

Viktor Emil Frankl was an Austrian neurologist, psychologist, philosopher, and Holocaust survivor, who founded logotherapy, a school of psychotherapy that describes a search for a life's meaning as the central human motivational force. Logotherapy is part of existential and humanistic psychology theories.
Logotherapy was promoted as the third school of Viennese Psychotherapy, after those established by Sigmund Freud and Alfred Adler.
Frankl published 39 books. The autobiographical Man's Search for Meaning, a best-selling book, is based on his experiences in various Nazi concentration camps.

Reviews

[Diane S ☔ · Rating 4 out of 5]

He spent three years in concentration camps, including Auschwitz. His entire family ,including his pregnant wife were killed in the camps. Despite this, months after liberation Frankel gave a series of lectures in the purpose and sanctity if life. This book is a concentrated telling of three of those lectures. The amazing part is that his talks still have value, not only to remind us of the past but the application to our current life, the situation in which we now find ourselves.

"our perspective on life's events-what we make of them-matters as much or more than what actually befalls us. "Fate" is what happens to us beyond our control. But we each are responsible for how we relate to those events."

"Pleasure in itself cannot give our existence meaning; this the lack of pleasure cannot take away meaning from life, which already seems obvious to us.

Hard won wisdom from a special man..

[Julie · Rating 4 out of 5]

In Victor E. Frankl's view, people find meaning in their lives in three main ways:

1. By creating something tangible such as a piece of art that will have impact after we are gone.

2. By appreciating the beauty of nature, "works of art, or simply loving people; Frankl cites Kierkegaard, that the door to happiness always opens outward."

3. By the way we endure and adapt to the events and challenges of our lives, and grow "through loving, and through suffering."

Finally, "our unique strengths and weaknesses make each of us uniquely irreplaceable" ~ Victor E. Frankl

[sAmAnE · Rating 3 out of 5]

رنج هیچ انسانی نمی‌تواند با رنج شخص دیگر مقایسه شود، به این دلیل که بخشی از ماهیت رنج این است که به شخص به‌خصوصی تعلق دارد، رنج مختص به او است_ به این معنا که "بزرگی" آن تنها به فرد مبتلا یعنی خود شخص بستگی دارد.
.
این کتاب هم بخشی از سخنرانی ویکتور فرانکل، یازده ماه بعد از آزادی از اردوگاه‌های کار اجباری است. او در این کتاب در باب معنا و ارزش زندگی و مسئولیت‌پذيری و پذیرش هرآنچه می‌افتد نوشته و اساسا دید عمیقی به معنای رنج و وجود آن در زندگی هر فرد داشته است.

[Schizanthus Nerd · Rating 4 out of 5]

Viktor Frankl, like anyone who endured the atrocities of the Holocaust, is someone I don’t have the vocabulary to describe. I’m in awe of the resilience and oftentimes almost unfathomable positivity of anyone who has lived through experiences I can’t even imagine. What’s even more extraordinary is that the lectures Frankl gave, which are the basis of this book, were presented only nine months after his liberation from his final concentration camp.

With an introduction by Daniel Goleman and afterward by Franz Vesely, Viktor’s son-in-law, this book comprises three of Frankl’s lectures:

* On the Meaning and Value of Life
* On the Meaning and Value of Life II
* Experimentum Crucis.

These lectures focus on suicide, forced annihilation and concentration camps respectively. With such difficult content I had expected this read to be quite depressing, but there’s hope running through even the darkest of themes. Given the author’s belief that we can find meaning regardless of our circumstances, this hope felt particularly appropriate.

This meaning, Frankl asserts, can come through “our actions, through loving, and through suffering.” Meaning doesn’t only come from work. Illness, physical or mental, doesn’t necessarily equal loss of meaning. Suffering can be either meaningful or meaningless.

Some of the early text read the way some university philosophy lectures I’ve attended felt, where I was anxious for the lecturer to get to the point, but these sections were the groundwork for what was to come. Frankl gives examples of patients he treated and people he encountered in concentration camps, and these provided the answers to ‘how does this theory apply to real life?’, which is something I always seek.

The third lecture was the one that I found most insightful. Building on the two previous lectures, Frankl discusses his thoughts on the “psychological reactions of the camp prisoners to life in the camp.” Learning how this lecture specifically related to his own ability to find meaning was inspirational.

It can be tempting, when someone talks about the importance of your attitude or finding meaning in suffering, to get into ‘yeah, but’. Yeah, but how would they feel if they were in my situation? Yeah, but what qualifies them to speak to me about suffering? It’s hard to ‘yeah, but’ when the person you’re hearing it from is Viktor Frankl.

While Frankl specifically says that no one’s suffering can be compared to anyone else’s I still find it difficult to think of any of my experiences, not matter how painful they are for me, to be comparable to those who have been subjected to concentration camps. After reading this book part of me wants to admonish myself for having a whinge about any problem I face. However, the overwhelming takeaway for me is if people like Viktor experienced what they did and still managed to find hope and meaning, then it is always possible for me, no matter what comes my way, to change my perspective.

To say yes to life is not only meaningful under all circumstances - because life itself is - but it is also possible under all circumstances.

Content warnings include death by suicide, descriptions of concentration camp experiences, euthanasia, mental illness and suicidal ideation.

Thank you so much to NetGalley and Rider, an imprint of Ebury Publishing, Penguin Random House UK, for the opportunity to read this book.

[Semjon · Rating 5 out of 5]

„Es kommt nie und nimmer darauf an, was wir vom Leben zu erwarten haben, viel mehr lediglich darauf: was das Leben von uns erwartet.“

Sind die Vorträge eines Psychiaters an einer kleinen Volkshochschule im Wien im Jahr 1946 über den Sinn des Lebens heute noch relevant? Kennen wir nicht solche Sätze schon zu genüge von den zahlreichen Personalentwicklungsbüchern auf dem heutigen Markt? Vielleicht mag man beim Lesen dieser dreiteiligen Vortragsreihe wirklich oft einen Wiedererkennungseffekt spüren, aber Viktor E. Frankl hat Erfahrungen in seinem Leben gesammelt, bei denen man ehrfurchsvoll still sitzt und aufnimmt. Er studierte während seiner Inhaftierung in verschiedenen KZs die Psyche der anderen Gefangenen. Warum verzweifelten manche und warum ertrugen manche ihr Schicksal klaglos? Beeindruckend und bewegend.

Trotz jahrelanger Beschäftigung mit der Psychotherapie hatte ich bislang noch nichts von Frankls Logotherapie und Existenzanalyse gehört. Über die Beschäftigung mit dem Existenzialismus und vor allem der Phänomenologie von Husserl bin ich auf Viktor E. Frankl gestoßen und froh, den ersten Schritt auf seine Lehre zugemacht zu haben. Ich werde ihn bestimmt noch öfter zur Hand nehmen. Genau mein Thema.

[Tom Quinn · Rating 3 out of 5]

"[T]he individual, and only that individual, determines whether their suffering is meaningful or not." (100)

3 stars. It's overly simplistic to call this a draft of Frankl's better-known work because there is some new content to find here. But I do think it's best read as a supplement to Man's Search for Meaning. A bit more time is spent on the underlying reasoning that led towards Frankl's major assertions in Man's Search which is interesting but Man's Search is much more refined, so I feel everybody ought to start there for the fullest effect. Plus the fore- and afterwords are repetitive, largely rehashing the content of the lectures themselves.

[8stitches 9lives · Rating 4 out of 5]

As it approaches the seventy-fifth anniversary of Victory in Europe (VE) Day, the day of Nazi Germany's surrender on 8 May 1945, there are myriad ways in which the population will be remembering those people actively involved in or lost to wartime activity yet this book looks at things from a fresh, amazing and quite frankly inspirational perspective. Viktor Frankl was a Holocaust survivor interned at Auschwitz in 1944 and who spent the remainder of his life attempting to make sense of what happened to him as well as searching for the meaning of life. His profound philosophical questioning led him to pursue a doctorate in philosophy in 1948 where existentialism was among his core beliefs. Viktor E. Frankl's ceaseless ability to see the light in the darkest of circumstances really shows how incredible a man he was. The lectures he prepared and presented way back in the forties, a mere few months after his liberation, have for the first been translated into English and delivered in this powerful, life-affirming 141-page book. His words and philosophy are as meaningful today as they were seventy-five years ago.

He has many valuable lessons to teach throughout this collection and despite losing his wife, mother, father and brother to the brutal Nazi regime he upheld a stoicism and resolve impossible to fathom having seen many atrocities of a bloody and genocidal war. It's times like these, when many societies around the world are in lockdown, we must remember that simply staying at home is nothing in comparison to what these survivors went through as they witnessed the horrors of Nazism and their evil ideology. Packed with wisdom, understanding and guidance this is a book that will never just be a product of its time and will benefit a multitude of people for a long time to come. It is a wonderfully insightful and well written book full of positivity and lessons on how resilience can be built through triumphing over adversity. But most of all it reminds us that hope can be found in these events we often deem as hopeless. Viktor passed on 2 September 1997 in his Austrian motherland but will undoubtedly be remembered for his timeless works. RIP Mr Frankl. Many thanks to Rider for an ARC.

[diario_de_um_leitor_pjv · Rating 4 out of 5]

COMENTÁRIO
⭐⭐⭐⭐
“Dizer Sim à Vida Apesar de Tudo”
Viktor E. Frankl
Tradução de Álvaro Gonçalves

Fruto de algum preconceito demorei muito tempo a ler Viktor E. Frankl. Este livro intitulado “Dizer Sim à Vida Apesar de Tudo” foi o modo como conheci um pouco o pensamento do médico e psiquiatra austríaco. Pensamento esse que sinceramente me está a conquistar. Dei por mim a pesquisar sobre o seu processo terapêutico e a querer saber mais sobre ele.

Este livro corresponde a um conjunto de três conferências que Frankl fez numa Universidade Popular em Viena, em 1946, na realidade pouco tempo depois da libertação do autor do campo de concentração de Turkheim. Se o autor parece procurar o sentido da vida respondendo à questão: haverá sentido depois de Auschwitz?

Mas se na realidade Frankl parte deste contexto particular do pós guerra para nos propor algo mais na nossa procura incessante de um sentido para a nossa vida. E nós leitores fazemos esse caminho essa busca a partir da obra de Frankl. Pessoalmente fiquei preso no modo como o livro aparentemente me influenciou…

Por isso mesmo este pequeno livro parece-me abrir um interessante caminho. Partindo do sofrimento será possível transformar o mesmo numa conquista e realização humana, como forma de o viver e o ultrapassar? Ou por outro lado será possível partir da culpa ( e do ressentimento) como uma oportunidade de nos melhorarmos, de nos transformarmos? E como pensamos na transitoriedade da vida como um incentivo para a transformação e a ação transformadora dos nossos quotidianos?

Bem mais do que certezas este livro provocou em mim uma intensa dúvida. E agora? Que faço?

(leitura integrada nos #medicosescritores, iniciativa do @2bejay)

(li de 02 a 04 de Setembro de 2022)

[Linden · Rating 4 out of 5]

I read Dr. Frankl’s Man’s Search for Meaning some years ago, so I was intrigued to learn of this book which was never before published in English (Say Yes to Life in Spite of Everything—3 lectures.) It contains some lectures he gave in 1946, not long after he was released from a concentration camp. He’s also discussing the search for meaning here, and specifically mentions how creativity, nature, art, love, adapting to limitations, and people can also give one’s life meaning. Fate, he says “is part of our lives and so is suffering….suffering also holds the possibility of being meaningful.” This is a timely and important book, offering words of encouragement from the eminent psychiatrist and Holocaust survivor. Thanks to Edelweiss and to the publisher for this ARC.

[Reading_ Tamishly · Rating 2 out of 5]

Comes out as a rather desperate way to write a new book. And yes, the book is basically about finding the meaning of life and what/how we can do or feel to make it happen.

Poor use of examples to compare mental health conditions/suicide with mere play things. I stopped reading the book there. Cannot tolerate it when books are written this manner without much thought when it comes to important and serious health conditions. Maybe in a "philosophical" manner it may be okay but no. For someone who's struggling with anxiety, I feel this book has nothing for me.

My opinion. And this is how I perceived it while reading the book. You decide for your own when you read it.

Thank you.

[Maren · Rating 5 out of 5]

Was für ein Leben und Lebenswerk.

Nachtrag von ca. 2010

[Philipp · Rating 4 out of 5]

I slept and dreamt
that life was joy.
I awoke and saw
that life was duty.
I worked - and behold,
duty was joy.

Three lectures from 1946 on the 'meaning' of life. If you've read Frankl's Man's Search for Meaning you will recognise a lot of what you're reading here, but it's compressed, and the main goal is different.

Man's Search focuses on how identifying meaning in life can elevate a person. The question of meaning is here too, but Frankl focuses more on how meaning can be found exactly, rather than focus on the positive outcomes of meaning.

In a nutshell: there is no purpose but the purpose that is given to you. Life is asking you, and you have to answer. Finding that meaning is a burden but one you have power over. You can see the concentration camp influence here - the more difficult life becomes, the more meaningful. Illness is not a lost of meaning, it is something meaningful, illness challenges you, and if you answer the challenge right you'll come out a bigger person. There is joy and happiness in life, but you cannot force these, there's no point in having joy and happiness as goals in itself, that's not possible as joy and happiness are outcomes that arise by themselves. As you create, as you 'open your door outwards', as you work, as you react to the challenges life throws at you, you'll find your meaning.

No talking, no lectures can help us get any further - there is only one thing left for us to do: to act; namely, to act in our everyday lives.

[Atiyeh · Rating 5 out of 5]

*Yes to Life: In Spite of Everything* is a profound and deeply moving collection of lectures delivered by Viktor E. Frankl in 1946, shortly after surviving the Holocaust. In this slim yet powerful volume, Frankl expands on the ideas that would later form the foundation of his celebrated work *Man’s Search for Meaning*. Here, he speaks not just as a psychiatrist, but as a survivor and witness to humanity’s darkest moments.

What makes *Yes to Life* especially compelling is its raw immediacy. Written and spoken so soon after the atrocities of the concentration camps, the book is infused with the urgency of someone who has seen the abyss—and still chooses hope. Frankl argues that even in the face of unimaginable suffering, life retains its meaning. This is not blind optimism, but a clear-eyed affirmation that meaning can be found through responsibility, love, and the stance we take toward hardship.

The language is accessible and direct, yet filled with wisdom. Frankl draws on philosophy, psychology, and personal experience to support his belief that life is worth affirming, even when external circumstances are brutal. He rejects nihilism and despair, instead offering readers a vision of human dignity rooted in our capacity to choose our attitude, even when we can change nothing else.

Although the book is short, its message lingers. It's especially relevant in times of crisis, when many may feel overwhelmed or hopeless. Frankl doesn’t promise easy answers, but he does offer a guiding principle: say “yes” to life, not because it is easy or painless, but because it is meaningful.

Verdict:

*A luminous and courageous meditation on suffering, meaning, and the human spirit. Viktor Frankl’s voice resonates with clarity and compassion, reminding us that even in despair, life holds value. A must-read for anyone seeking hope and purpose.*

[Shane · Rating 4 out of 5]

This small book is a collection of three lectures that Victor Frankl delivered in 1946, after his liberation from four years spent in various concentration camps.

Frankl, a psychotherapist by profession, was interned in 1941, along with his parents and pregnant wife. Separated from his loved ones, he cherished the hope that the family would be re-united one day, and that hope sustained him. Upon his liberation, he discovered that they had all perished. Hope postponed is destructive, he concludes, and is glad he held on to his dreams for life on the outside until the war ended.

Frankl’s three pillars of the branch of psychiatry he developed, later to be named logotherapy, play out in this book. They are also expanded upon in his masterpiece Man’s Search For Meaning. The three pillars are:

1) Actions: meaningful acts that outlive us, whether that is in creating art, invention or in social acts of good.
2) Love – loving people and having people who love you.
3) Suffering – this provides meaning to our lives through lived experience and should be embraced, not avoided.

He spends a lot of time on Suffering, something he endured a lot of in the camps. He recounts anecdotes of camp experiences that support his principles. Suffering is unique to each individual, some have more, some less, but always in the right doses to extract meaning from each individual’s life. Given his embrace of Suffering as a giver of meaning, he is a strong opponent of Suicide and Euthanasia – we each have to “die our own death.”

Part of his psychology of the concentration camp also involves a reflection on the collective guilt that hounds survivors. He concedes that the best and most talented people died in the camps, and the survivors were just the lucky ones. The collective guilt rising from this incarceration spurred survivors to spread the word and educate those who weren’t affected or pretended that “they didn’t know.” He also sadly concedes that many survivors forgot this unwritten oath once life returned to normal.

Frankl’s work is an antidote to those facing difficult or end-of-life situations.

[Peter · Rating 5 out of 5]

Appropriate read during this pandemic. It’s a quick read on finding meaning in any circumstance and living life fully. The book is three lectures given shortly after Frankl’s liberation from concentration camps and before writing his more famous “Man’s Search for Meaning.” His writing is surprisingly upbeat and engaging.

[Marian · Rating 5 out of 5]

This little book - part-lecture, part-memoir - challenged and uplifted me. One of my favorite reads of 2020.

[Narcisa Chiric · Rating 3 out of 5]

"Spune da vieții" este o continuare a cărții "Omul în căutarea sensului vieții". Fără cea din urmă, actuala ar putea părea greu de înțeles.

Conține prelegeri ale lui Viktor Frankl cu privire la căutarea sensului vieții în ipostaze extreme: sinuciderea și apariția unor boli mintale. Nu se ridică totuși la nivelul cuvintelor scrise în cartea reprezentativă a lui Frankl.

[Spens (Sphynx Reads) · Rating 3 out of 5]

I found this collection of lectures to be thought-provoking and I highlighted quite a few passages. I really appreciated how well Frankl explains his points regarding finding meaning in life even amidst the suffering it inevitably brings. That said I didn't find this quite as impactful as Man's Search For Meaning. Still a good read though.

[Caro · Rating 3 out of 5]

"I slept and dreamt thay life was a joy. I awoke and saw thay life was DUTY. I worked- and behold duty was joy" - Rabindranath Tagore

"Happiness should not and must not and can NEVER be a goal, but only an outcome: the outcome of fulfillment."

3 main ways to find fulfillment:
1. Creating a work (art, labor of love etc)
2. Appreciating nature/art/loving people
3. By adapting to difficult situations in life
----

To find your meaning of life is to live your life. Shift your mentality from asking the world "what is the use of this life?" To "what is my purpose in life?" And you can only answer that by living your life. Suicide is not an answer and can never solve problem.

[MonoNoAware · Rating 3 out of 5]

เหมือนจะอ่านยากหน่อย เพราะไม่ใช่ฮาวทูทั่วไป แต่เป็นปาฐกถาของจิตแพทย์ชาวออสเตรียที่ได้รับการปล่อยตัวจากค่ายกักกันนาซี เนื้อหาจึงเกี่ยวเนื่องกับผู้ที่ต้องเผชิญความทุกข์อย่างแสนสาหัสในสงครามครั้งนั้น แต่หนังสือก็ทำให้เห็นว่าแม้ชีวิตเราจะเผชิญความโหดร้ายเพียงใด แต่อย่าสูญสิ้นความหวัง เพราะวันหนึ่งเราจะกลับมาผลิบานอีกครั้ง

[Makmild · Rating 4 out of 5]

การที่พวกเขาจะมีชีวิตอยู่ต่อไปนั้นมีความหมายอยู่จริง ๆ หรือเปล่า และมันคุ้มค่ากับการที่พวกเขาจะต้องเอาชนะความเหนื่อยล้านี้หรือไม่ สิ่งที่จำเป็นสำหรับคนกลุ่มนี้คือคำตอบของคำถามเรื่องความหมายของชีวิต

เราเป็นคนที่สงสัยเรื่องชีวิตมาตั้งแต่เด็กๆ (ตามประสาเด็กเนิร์ดชอบอ่านหนังสือ) ว่าเราเกิดมาทำไม ด้วยความอยากรู้อยากเห็นและอยากเข้าใจที่ทางของตนในโลก แต่พอโตมาสู้ชีวิตแต่ชีวิตสู้กลับ คำถามที่ว่า เราเกิดมาทำไม มันไม่ได้เปี่ยมไปด้วยพลังใจอย่างนั้นแล้ว แต่เป็นความหมายที่ไม่เข้าใจว่าถ้าชีวิตมันเศร้าและทุกข์ขนาดนี้ เราจะเกิดมาทำไม มันมีความหมายอะไรอยู่งั้นหรือ

วิคเตอร์คือจิตแพทย์ผู้ผ่านค่ายกักกันที่โหดร้ายที่สุดในโลกมา หลังจากที่ออกมาจากค่ายกักกันที่ริดรอนความเป็นมนุษย์ไปจนสิ้น เขาก็พบว่าชีวิตที่เหลือรอดมานั้น บุคคลที่เขารักยิ่งได้ลาโลกไปแล้ว อะไรที่ทำให้วิคเตอร์ยังยืนหยัดและมีพลังมากพอที่จะหายใจต่อไปบนโลกใบนี้ได้ ถ้าไม่ใช่เพราะเขาเข้าใจสิ่งที่เรียกว่าความหมายของชีวิต?

หากเราต้องการความหมายของชีวิต เล่มนี้ไม่มีตอบให้ แต่เราจะได้คำตอบอะไรบางอย่างที่สงสัยมานาน โดยเฉพาะเรื่องที่เกี่ยวกับความทุกข์ และความว่างเปล่าของชีวิต

สำหรับเล่มนี้เนื่องจากเป็นปาฐกถาของวิคเตอร์ ไม่ใช่หนังสือที่วิคเตอร์เขียนออกมาเอง จึงกระชับ รวบรัด แต่ไม่ได้ทำให้อ่านง่ายขึ้นแต่อย่างใด 55555555555555555 เอาจริงๆ อ่านยากเพราะต้องใช้พลังในการอ่านตีความเยอะ เรื่อง Man's Search for Meaning นี้ยังอ่านง่ายกว่าเลยค่ะ 5555

ใดๆ ก็ตามเป็นอีกเล่มที่แนะนำค่ะ

[Tsvetelina Mareva · Rating 4 out of 5]

Много е вдъхновяващ Франкъл!
В книгата има фотография, на която е сниман как катери връх в Алпите на 70-год. възраст. На 67 години взема първите си часове по пилотиране. Освен всички тези екстремни хобита, се е занимавал и с композиране на музика и с какво ли още не. Много ми допадна теорията му за предимствата на дилетанството и колко е хубаво то всъщност.

Наистина е изумително как се съхранява чувството за хумор при житейските обстоятелства, съпътствали Франкъл...

"И фармакопсихиатрията може да се обясни с помощта на вицове. Войник от SS седи във влака срещу евреин. Евреинът вади една херинга и я захапва, а после отново я увива и я прибира.
"Защо я прибрахте?", попитал войникът от SS.
"В главата ѝ е мозъкът, ще го занеса на децата си, защото като го изядат, ще станат по-умни".
"Ще ми продадете ли главата на херингата?"
"Защо да не Ви я продам?"
"Колко?"
"Една марка."
"Ето Ви една марка" - и войникът изял главата на рибата.
След пет минути започнал да ругае: "Ти, еврейска свиньо, цялата херинга струва десет пфенига, а ти ми продаде главата за една марка?"
Евреинът отвърнал спокойно: "Виждате ли, вече действа."

[Петър Панчев · Rating 5 out of 5]

В търсене на смисъл
(Цялото ревю е тук: https://knijenpetar.wordpress.com/202...)

Не съм сигурен каква е причината да проявя интерес към тази автобиографична книга. Може би заради преживяванията на Франкъл в нацистки лагери, или просто заради личността му, която се свързва основно с логотерапията. През последните години все казвах за „Човекът в търсене на смисъл“: „Прегледайте тази книга, не съм срещал отрицателни отзиви“ – като препоръка в сектор Психология. А аз съм чел само откъси, които явно не са ме накарали да продължа. Сега знам, че ще я прочета точно заради „Да! на живота въпреки всичко“ („Леге Артис“, 2020, с превод на Силвия Василева и Боян Цонев). Човек би търсил в една автобиография интересни и любопитни факти за дадената личност, би следвал „линията на времето“ страница след страница, докато си създаде кристално ясна картина за човека. С Виктор Франкъл не се получи точно така. Казвам това в положителен смисъл. Той може да си води записки и да е прецизен във всяко отношение към работата си, но когато говори, сякаш всичко от тази предварителна подготовка престава да има значение. Виждали ли сте човек, който постоянно наднича в записките си, за да не пропусне нещо? Франкъл говори без подобна поддръжка. И неговата автобиография никак не е последователна (в повечето случаи), но ми направи изключително впечатление.
(Продължава в блога: https://knijenpetar.wordpress.com/202...)

[Matal “The Mischling Princess” Baker · Rating 5 out of 5]

After having read Viktor E. Frankl’s “Man’s Search for Meaning,” I was inspired to read another of his books, “Yes to Life: In Spite of Everything.” So far, I believe that this book is one of my all-time favorites.

Just eleven months after being liberated from a concentration camp—just eleven months!—Frankl gave a lecture in 1946. Later that same year, he compiled that lecture into the present book. Viktor Frankl is an absolute genius. Some of Frankl’s work—at least one volume—was completed prior to the Holocaust. But everything else he wrote and theorized later. For the life of me, I simply cannot fathom what the world would have lost if Frankl had not survived that era. That makes me think of all of the numerous scientific and medical cures that the world DID NOT get because those people didn’t make it through the war. It makes me think about all of the artists, new inventions, technology, and everything else that the world COULD have had at this very moment. But because of our human hate and ignorance, all of those things are lost to us for eternity.

This book is not the same as “Man’s Search for Meaning.” Sure, Frankl does bring up some of the basic premises of Logotherapy. But this book is something MORE. The author talks about how meaning can be found through action, love, and courage—just like in his prior book. But he also adds new ideas, thoughts, and analyses that cannot be found in the first book.

Frankl was truly a man of his time. Most survivors left Europe and moved elsewhere. But Frankl (like my own family) did not. Instead, he faced the problems that remained in Europe after the war and did it head on, namely: 1) that people stated that they didn’t know anything about Nazi crimes while they were being committed (e.g., concentration camps); and 2) that those same people also claimed that they “suffered too!”

The author also discusses collective guilt—stating that this is something that can’t exist; that it’s wrong. But he DOES talk about collective liability, which does very much still exist:

“…But here we have to make an important distinction: we have to differentiate between collective guilt and collective liability. If I illustrate this with an allegorical example, you will understand me immediately. If I suddenly get appendicitis, is it my fault? Certainly not; and yet, if I have to have an operation, what then? I will nevertheless owe the fee for the operation to the doctor who operated on me. That is, I am “liable” for the settlement of the doctor’s bill. So “liability without guilt” definitely exists.”

The more I read Frankl’s work, the more I understand how humanity has much more power; power that is not acknowledged. And for Frankl, it all starts with understanding that we have the freedom to make drastic changes in our lives, but that at the same time, we are also individually responsible as well.

I spent $9.99 on this Kindle book, and every single penny spent was worth it. I absolutely recommend this book to each and every person.

[Tarlan A. Latif]

Albert Camus deyir ki, həyatın yaşamağa dəyib-dəymədiyi sualına cavab tapmaq fəlsəfənin fundamental sualıdır, yerdə qalan digər mövzular buna nəzərən uşaq oyuncağıdır.
geniş yayılmış nihilist, pessimist yanaşmalarla razılaşmayan Viktor özünün pozitivist həyat fəlsəfəsini oxucular #yestolifeinspiteofeverything kitabı ilə çatdırmağa çalışır. Auschwitz-Birkenau ölüm düşərgəsində həyata tutunub qalan psixiatr Viktor ordan xilas olan kimi bu kitabı yazır, hətta ilk başda məhz adı yerinə çağrıldığı əsir nömrəsi altında nəşr etdirmək istəsə də, sonra fikrini dəyişir və ən çox oxunan əsərlərdən birinə çevrilir.
Suiqəsdə gətirib çıxaran səbəblərlə yanaşı, həyatın mənasına olan inamın şübhə altında qaldıqda nəticələndiyi ruh düşgünlüyü uzun-uzun müxtəlif xəstələrin, yaxud ətrafındakı insanların rastlaşdığı hallarla oxucuya çatdırmağa çalışır. Maraqlı məqam odur ki, insanın həyatında xoşagəlməz halların miqdarı xoş anlardan daha çoxdur. Əgər müsbət anlar həyatın özəyini təşkil etmirsə, o zaman xoşagəlməz anların mövcudluğu da bizi həyatın mənasının varlığını sorğulamağa düçar etməməlidir.
Yaşamaq üçün məqsədin olması bizi bir gündən digər günə qaçmağa vadar edir. Bütün bu çətinliklərə rəğmən, 4 illik əsir həyatında onu əsas ayaqda saxlayan ailəsini yenidən görmək və yarımçıq qalan, nazilər tərəfindən həbs olunarkən məhv edilən, götürülən əlyazmalarını tamamlamaq ümidi olub. Konslagerdə müşahidə zamanı ümidi və məqsədi olan yoldaşlarının daha çox əzablara tab gətirdiklərini, daha az xəstələndiklərinin şahidi olur.
Təəssüf ki, müharibə bitib azad olduqdan sonra nə ailəsini, nə da hamilə həyat yoldaşına qovuşa bildi, amma özünün söz verdiyi kimi əvvəlcə #manssearchformeaning daha sonra isə indi əlimdə gördüyünüz kitabı yazdı və bu həyata necə yenidən öyrəşəcəklərini bilməyən insanlara dəstək oldu.

Xoş mütalilər!

[Mindfully Evie · Rating 5 out of 5]

LOVE LOVE LOVE. Thank you to whoever rediscovered this little gem of a book and bought it into the light again.

[Giulio Ciacchini · Rating 5 out of 5]

Everlasting Lesson
Always direct and easy to understand, Professor Frankl is a joy to read.
This is a short but powerful booklet, based on three public lectures he gave in Vienna in 1946—just nine months after being liberated from the Nazi concentration camps. While his later and more famous work Man’s Search for Meaning blends memoir and psychology, this one feels rawer, more immediate, and deeply rooted in the atmosphere of post-war Europe, when despair and disillusionment were everywhere.
Frankl’s central message is simple but profound: even in the face of unimaginable suffering, life holds potential meaning, and it is our task to find it. But unlike many motivational works that speak in abstractions, the founder of Logotherapy grounds his argument in concrete human situations drawing from both his time in the camps and his work as a psychiatrist with people struggling to rebuild their lives after the war.
He insists that life’s meaning is not a one-size-fits-all formula. It changes from person to person, and from moment to moment, depending on circumstances. Sometimes meaning comes from creative work or love; other times, it is found in how we face unavoidable suffering. For Frankl, even the most tragic situation can be transformed into a human achievement if it is met with the right attitude.
Frankl here is drawing a clear line between happiness as a byproduct and happiness as a goal. His argument—and the imagery from Kierkegaard—suggest that happiness is like a shadow: the more directly you chase it, the more it slips away. Instead, it comes indirectly, as a side effect of living a life of responsibility, purpose, and what he calls “duty.”
This duty isn’t meant in the rigid, joyless sense of obligation for its own sake, but as the meaningful engagement with something outside oneself—whether that’s caring for others, creating, contributing, or even enduring suffering with dignity. Frankl is rejecting the modern consumerist assumption that happiness can be manufactured through pleasure-hunting or self-focused striving.

So, life is somehow duty, a single, huge obligation.
And there is certainly joy in life too, but it cannot be pur sued, cannot be "willed into being" as joy: rather, it must arise spontaneously, and in fact, it does arise spontaneously, just as an outcome may arise: Happiness should not, must not, and can never be a goal, but only an out come; the outcome of the fulfillment of that which in Tagore's poem is called duty, and that we will later try to define more closely. In any case, all human striving for happiness, in this sense, is doomed to failure as luck can only fall into one's lap but can never be hunted down. It was Kierkegaard who told the wise parable that the door to happiness always opens "outward," which means it closes itself precisely against the person who tries to push the door to happiness "inward," so to speak.

Frankl here frames life as a dynamic exchange rather than a static possession—something that questions us and demands a response, moment by moment. Meaning isn’t a fixed truth we “find” once and for all, but a task that constantly evolves. This shifts the perspective from life as something owed to us to life as something entrusted to us, making us responsible stewards of our own existence.
His analogy of the athlete or climber is telling: challenges aren’t obstacles to meaning, but the very terrain on which meaning grows. Just as a climber seeks a harder route for the joy of mastering it, life’s increasing difficulty can deepen our sense of purpose. This flips the usual assumption—many see difficulty as something that robs life of meaning, while Frankl sees it as the very thing that can enrich it.

If we now summarize what we said about the "meaning" of life, we can conclude: life itself means being questioned, means answering; each person must be responsible for their own existence. Life no longer appears to us as a given, but as something given over to us, it is a task in every moment. This therefore means that it can only become more meaningful the more difficult it be comes. The athlete, the climber who actively seeks tasks, even creates the difficulties for himself: how delighted is that climber when he finds in a rock face another difficult, an even more difficult, "variant" of his task! At this point we must note, however, that religious people, in their sense of life, in their "understanding of being," distinguish themselves in that they go a step further than the person who merely understands their life as a task, in that they also experience the agency that "gives" them the task or that sets them before the task-the divine be ing! In other words, religious people experience their life as a divine mission.

[Johnny Althoff · Rating 5 out of 5]

Big fan of everything Viktor Frankl wrote. Only complaint about this book is that people tend to become concerned about you when they see you reading a book with a title like “Yes to Life: In spite of everything”

[Omar · Rating 5 out of 5]

მოკლე განხილვა: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qjU4I...

[Story · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is the first English translation of three talks that Viktor Frankl gave after his release from a concentration camp, post WWII. He speaks of a community of camp survivors who, after their ordeal, chose to celebrate life in every way they could--to say yes to life, in spite of everything they had lost and endured. Frankl and some of his fellow survivors found meaning in life through creating that meaning; that is, they focused on finding meaning in their work, in art, nature and music and by committing to adapting to whatever circumstance's life or fate threw their way. They did not let themselves become disenchanted with life for that leads to a sense of meaningless and despair.

Frankl believed that even in dire circumstances, such as being interned in a concentration camp, we retain the freedom to adapt to our environment. We can choose to suppress our negativity and to have hope for the future. Life is the question and the action we take to make life meaningful is the answer. And those actions and answers (whether we choose to make them positive or negative) will radiate out into the world after we are gone.