Man's Search for Meaning

Among The Top 10 Most Influential Books

Viktor Frankl's memoir has touched generations of readers with its descriptions of life in Nazi death camps and its lessons for spiritual survival.

Between 1942 and 1945 Frankl labored in four different camps, including Auschwitz, while his parents, brother, and pregnant wife were killed. Based on his own experience and the experiences of others he treated later in his practice, Frankl argues that we cannot avoid suffering but we can choose how to cope with it, find meaning in it, and move forward with renewed purpose.

Frankl's theory-known as logotherapy, from the Greek word logos (meaning") holds that our primary drive in life is not pleasure, as Freud maintained, but the discovery and pursuit of what we personally find meaningful.

At the time of Frankl's death in 1997, Man's Search for Meaning had sold more than 10 million copies in twenty-four languages. A survey that asked readers to name a book that made a difference in their life found "Man's Search for Meaning" among the Top 10 most influential books.