Eric Eng’s Reviews > Man's Search for Meaning > Status Update

The fact that we had neither nicotine nor caffeine also contributed to the state of apathy and irritability.

A man’s suffering is similar to the behavior of gas. If a certain quantity of gas is pumped into an empty chamber, it will fill the chamber completely and evenly, no matter how big the chamber. Thus suffering completely fills the human soul and conscious mind, no matter whether the suffering is great or little. Therefore the “size” of human suffering is absolutely relative.

The salvation of man is through love and in love. 37
Love goes very far beyond the physical person of the beloved. It finds its deepest meaning in his spiritual being, his inner self. Whether or not he is actually present, whether or not his is still alive at all, ceases somehow to be of importance. 38

Apathy, the main symptom of the second phase, was a necessary mechanism of self-defense. Reality dimmed, and all efforts and all emotions were centered on one task: preserving one’s own life and that of the other fellow.

Delusion of reprieve. The condemned man, immediately before his execution, gets the illusion that he might be reprieved at the very last minute.

“He who has a Why to live for can bear almost any How.” Nietzsche