Repeat

I've been prone to spiraling into existential crises for years, but few things make me cringe more than hollow, sweeping quotes about the meaning of life.

EXAMPLE: Life is not measured by the number of breaths you take, but the number of moments that take your breath away!

Ew. Instead of going out and waiting for some special breathless moments, I suggest you read Man's Search for Meaning by Victor Frankl. Even if you're not searching for the meaning of man's life, it'll make you sort of sentimental about your species. Aw, humans. Frankl, a Jewish psychiatrist, survived four concentration camps and instead of focusing on the horrors of his experience, he writes about what makes a person want to exist without friends, family, or career, and with no end to torture in sight.

And because I want this post to exactly resemble the last time I complained about vapid quotes and then followed up with an excerpt from a WW2 autobiography, I've distilled the meaning of life into just few of Frankl's quotes.

"Life" does not mean something vague, but something very real and concrete...life is potentially meaningful under any conditions, even those which are most miserable. And this in turn presupposes the human capacity to creatively turn life's negative aspects into something positive or constructive. I speak of a tragic optimisim, that is, an optimism in the face of tragedy and in view of the human potential which at its best always allows for (1) turning suffering into a human achievement and accomplishment; (2) deriving from guilt the opportunity to change oneself for the better; and (3) deriving from life's transitoriness an incentive to take responsible action. A human being is not one in pursuit of happiness but rather in search of a reason to become happy, last but not least, through actualizing the potential meaning inherent and dormant in a given situation.