Top 30 Viktor Frankl Quotes To Help You Find Your Own Path

viktor frankl quotes

Throughout my life, I have always used Viktor Frankl quotes to remind myself of what is important. I use them to reflect and analyze where I’m coming from and where I’m going. Viktor Frankl was a renowned Austrian psychologist and therapist who developed a unique psychological approach to psychotherapy known as logotherapy.

This approach is based on the premise that the primary goal of psychotherapy is to help people find meaning in life. In this article, I have compiled 30 powerful Viktor Frankl quotes to help you connect with your inner being and find a path that suits you.

30 Powerful Viktor Frankl Quotes to Help You Find Your Own Path in Life

Viktor Frankl Quotes to Encourage You to Try New Things and Bear the Pain

#1. “Those who have a ‘why’ to live, can bear with almost any ‘how’.”

#2. “Don’t aim at success. The more you aim at it and make it a target, the more you are going to miss it. For success, like happiness, cannot be pursued; it must ensue, and it only does so as the unintended side effect of one’s personal dedication to a cause greater.”

#3. “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.”

#4. “When we are no longer able to change a situation, we are challenged to change ourselves.”

#5. “In some ways, suffering ceases to be suffering at the moment it finds a meaning, such as the meaning of a sacrifice.”

#6. “For the world is in a bad state, but everything will become still worse unless each of us does his best.”

#7. “Pain is only bearable if we know it will end, not if we deny it exists.”

#8. “I do the unpleasant tasks before I do the pleasant ones.”

#9. “When a man finds that it is his destiny to suffer… his unique opportunity lies in the way he bears his burden.”

#10. “When a man cannot find meaning, he numbs himself with pleasure.”

Quotes to Help You Turn Your Losses into Achievements

#11. “For what then matters is to bear witness to the uniquely human potential at its best, which is to transform a personal tragedy into a triumph, to turn one’s predicament into a human achievement.”

#12. “But there was no need to be ashamed of tears, for tears bore witness that a man had the greatest of courage, the courage to suffer.”

#13. “The last freedom is choosing your attitude.”

#14. “A man’s concern, even his despair, over the worthwhileness of life is an existential distress but by no means a mental disease.”

#15. “The more one forgives himself – by giving himself to a cause to serve or another person to love – the more human he is and the more he actualizes himself.”

Viktor Frankl Quotes to Motivate You to Find Meaning

#16. “In times of crisis, people reach for meaning. Meaning is strength. Our survival may depend on our seeking and finding it.”

#17. “If there is meaning in life at all, then there must be meaning in suffering.”

#18. “Man can only find meaning for his existence in something outside himself.”

#19. “Then I grasped the meaning of the greatest secret that human poetry and human thought and belief have to impart: The salvation of man is through love and in love.”

#20. “View life as a series of movie frames, the ending and meaning may not be apparent until the very end of the movie, and yet, each of the hundreds of individual frames has meaning within the context of the whole movie.”

#21. “This is the core of the human spirit. If we can find something to live for – if we can find some meaning to put at the center of our lives – even the worst kind of suffering becomes bearable.”

#22. “The quest for meaning is the key to mental health and human flourishing.”

#23. “The point is not what we expect from life, but rather what life expects from us.”

Viktor Frankl Quotes to Help You to Be Selfless

#24. “The more one forgets one’s own self, the more human the person becomes.”

#25. “Each of us carries a unique spark of the divine, and each of us is also an inseparable part of the web of life.”

#26. “The way in which a man accepts his fate and all the suffering it entails, the way in which he takes up his cross, gives him ample opportunity—even under the most difficult circumstances—to add a deeper meaning to his life. It may remain brave, dignified and unselfish. Or in the bitter fight for self-preservation he may forget his human dignity and become no more than an animal.”

#27. “Self-actualization cannot be attained if it is made an end in itself, but only as a side effect of self-transcendence.”

#28. “Success, like happiness, is the unexpected side effect of one’s personal dedication to a cause greater than oneself.”

Viktor Frankl Quotes to Help You Deal with Disappointments

#29. “Forces beyond your control can take away everything you possess except one thing, your freedom to choose how you will respond to the situation. You cannot control what happens to you in life, but you can always control what you will feel and do about what happens to you.”

#30. “A positive attitude enables a person to endure suffering and disappointment as well as enhance enjoyment and satisfaction. A negative attitude intensifies pain and deepens disappointments; it undermines and diminishes pleasure, happiness, and satisfaction; it may even lead to depression or physical illness.”

In Summary

Whether you feel like you have lost your way or you are just looking for the meaning behind your pain and suffering, these Viktor Frankl quotes will inspire you to find your own path in life.

As one of Austria’s most popular neurologists and psychologists, Viktor Frankl has written many books that are full of insight and wisdom. With these quotes, you will be able to interpret the many ups and downs of life.


Image source: Viktor Frankl photo by Franz Vesely

Nicole Middleton
Nicole calls herself a typical millennial girl and thrives on her share of social media, celebrity gossip, and all things viral content. She’s a big fan of pop music and plays the guitar as a hobby.