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We Must Never Forget That We May Also Find Meaning In Life Even When Confronted With A Hopeless Situation, When Facing A Fate That Cannot Be Changed. 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. When We Are No Longer Able To Change A Situation-just Think Of An Incurable Disease Such As Inoperable Cancer-we Are Challenged To Change Ourselves.
-Viktor E. Frankl
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We Must Never Forget

Viktor E. Frankl
We Must Never Forget That We May Also Find Meaning In Life Even When Confronted With A Hopeless Situation, When Facing A Fate That Cannot Be Changed. 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. When We Are No Longer Able To Change A Situation-just Think Of An Incurable Disease Such As Inoperable Cancer-we Are Challenged To Change Ourselves.
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Cancer
Fate
Thinking
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It Did Not Really Matter What We Expected From Life, But Rather What Life Expected From Us. We Needed To Stop Asking About The Meaning Of Life, And Instead To Think Of Ourselves As Those Who Were Being Questioned By Life—daily And Hourly. Our Answer Must Consist, Not In Talk And Meditation, But In Right Action And In Right Conduct. Life Ultimately Means Taking The Responsibility To Find The Right Answer To Its Problems And To Fulfill The Tasks Which It Constantly Sets For Each Individual.
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If Architects Want To Strengthen A Decrepit Arch, They Increase The Load Which Is Laid Upon It, For Thereby The Parts Are Joined More Firmly Together. So If Therapists Wish To Foster Their Patients' Mental Health, They Should Not Be Afraid To Increase That Load Through A Reorientation Toward The Meaning Of One's Life.
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One Evening, When We Were Already Resting On The Floor Of Our Hut, Dead Tired, Soup Bowls In Hand, A Fellow Prisoner Rushed In And Asked Us To Run Out To The Assembly Grounds And See The Wonderful Sunset. Standing Outside We Saw Sinister Clouds Glowing In The West And The Whole Sky Alive With Clouds Of Ever-changing Shapes And Colors, From Steel Blue To Blood Red. The Desolate Grey Mud Huts Provided A Sharp Contrast, While The Puddles On The Muddy Ground Reflected The Glowing Sky. Then, After Minutes Of Moving Silence, One Prisoner Said To Another, "how Beautiful The World Could Be.
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Most Important, However, Is The Third Avenue To Meaning In Life: Even The Helpless Victim Of A Hopeless Situation, Facing A Fate He Cannot Change, May Rise Above Himself, May Grow Beyond Himself, And By So Doing Change Himself. He May Turn A Personal Tragedy Into A Triumph.
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The Last Of Human Freedoms - The Ability To Chose One's Attitude Especially An Attitude Of Gratitude In A Given Set Of Circumstances Especially In Difficult Circumstances.
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Our Generation Is Realistic, For We Have Come To Know Man As He Really Is. After All, Man Is That Being Who Invented The Gas Chambers Of Auschwitz; However, He Is Also That Being Who Entered Those Gas Chambers Upright, With The Lord's Prayer Or The Shema Yisrael On His Lips.
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What Man Actually Needs Is Not A Tensionless State But Rather The Striving And Struggling For Some Goal Worthy Of Him. What He Needs Is Not The Discharge Of Tension At Any Cost, But The Call Of A Potential Meaning Waiting To Be Fulfilled By Him.
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Ironically Enough, In The Same Way That Fear Brings To Pass What One Is Afraid Of, Likewise A Forced Intention Makes Impossible What One Forcibly Wishes... Pleasure Is, And Must Remain, A Side-effect Or By-product, And Is Destroyed And Spoiled To The Degree To Which It Is Made A Goal In Itself.
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You Don't Create Your Mission In Life - You Detect It.
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The Struggle For Existence Is A Struggle 'for' Something; It Is Purposeful And Only In So Being Is It Meaningful And Able To Bring Meaning Into Life.
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One Can Choose One's Attitude In Any Given Set Of Circumstances.
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For The First Time In My Life I Saw The Truth As It Is Set Into Song By So Many Poets, Proclaimed As The Final Wisdom By So Many Thinkers. The Truth - That Love Is The Ultimate And Highest Goal To Which Man Can Aspire. 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.
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Pain Is Only Bearable If We Know It Will End, Not If We Deny It Exists.
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Humor Was Another Of The Soul's Weapons In The Fight For Self-preservation.
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As A Professor In Two Fields, Neurology And Psychiatry, I Am Fully Aware Of The Extent To Which Man Is Subject To Biological, Psychological And Sociological Conditions. But In Addition To Being A Professor In Two Fields I Am A Survivor Of Four Camps - Concentration Camps, That Is - And As Such I Also Bear Witness To The Unexpected Extent To Which Man Is Capable Of Defying And Braving Even The Worst Conditions Conceivable.
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Survivor
Ultimately, Man Should Not Ask What The Meaning Of His Life Is, But Rather He Must Recognize That It Is He Who Is Asked.
Men
Challenges
Meaning Of Life
To Suffer Unecessarily Is Masochistic Rather Than Heroic.
Suffering
Heroic
Masochistic
What Is Demanded Of Man Is Not, As Some Existential Philosophers Teach, To Endure The Meaninglessness Of Life, But Rather To Bear His Incapacity To Grasp Its Unconditional Meaningfulness In Rational Terms.
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Philosopher
Everyone Has His Own Specific Vocation Or Mission In Life; Everyone Must Carry Out A Concrete Assignment That Demands Fulfillment. Therein He Cannot Be Replaced, Nor Can His Life Be Repeated, Thus, Everyone's Task Is Unique As His Specific Opportunity To Implement It.
Inspirational
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It Is A Peculiarity Of Man That He Can Only Live By Looking To The Future...and This Is His Salvation In The Most Difficult Moments Of His Existence, Although He Sometimes Has To Force His Mind To The Task.
Men
Mind
Tasks
Man's Inner Strength May Raise Him Above His Outward Fate.
Inspirational
Fate
Men
Between Stimulus And Response There Is A Space. In That Space Is Our Power To Choose Our Response. In Our Response Lies Our Growth And Our Freedom.
Happiness
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Freedom
How Can We Dare To Predict The Behavior Of Man? We May Predict The Movements Of A Machine, Of An Automaton; More Than This, We Many Even Try To Predict The Mechanisms Or "dynamisms" Of The Human Psyche As Well. But Man Is More Than Psyche.
Men
Trying
Machines
It Is This Spiritual Freedom - Which Cannot Be Taken Away - That Makes Life Meaningful And Purposeful.
Meaningful
Spiritual
Taken
If There Is Meaning In Life At All, Then There Must Be Meaning In Suffering.
Suffering
Meaning Of Life
Mans Search For Meaning
Thus, Human Existence-at Least As Long As It Has Not Been Neurotically Distorted-is Always Directed To Something, Or Someone, Other Than Itself, Be It A Meaning To Fulfill Or Another Human Being To Encounter Lovingly.
Long
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It Is The Pursuit Of Happiness That Thwarts Happiness.
Happiness
Pursuit Of Happiness
Pursuit
When A Person Can’t Find A Deep Sense Of Meaning, They Distract Themselves With Pleasure.
Pleasure
Persons
We Dislike Talking About Our Experiences. No Explanations Are Needed For Those Who Have Been Inside, And The Others Will Understand Neither How We Felt Then Nor How We Feel Now.
Talking
Explanation
Needed
But My Mind Clung To My Wife's Image, Imagining It With An Uncanny Acuteness. I Heard Her Answering Me, Saw Her Smile, Her Frank And Encouraging Look. Real Or Not, Her Look Then Was More Luminous Than The Sun Which Was Beginning To Rise.
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Sunday Neurosis, That Kind Of Depression Which Afflicts People Who Become Aware Of The Lack Of Content In Their Lives When The Rush Of The Busy Week Is Over And The Void Within Themselves Becomes Manifest.
Sunday
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Consider A Movie: It Consists Of Thousands Upon Thousands Of Individual Pictures, And Each Of Them Makes Sense And Carries A Meaning, Yet The Meaning Of The Whole Film Cannot Be Seen Before Its Last Sequence Is Shown. However, We Cannot Understand The Whole Film Without Having First Understood Each Of Its Components, Each Of The Individual Pictures. Isn't It The Same With Life? Doesn't The Final Meaning Of Life, Too, Reveal Itself, It At All, Only At Its End, On The Verge Of Death?
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Our Main Motivation For Living Is Our Will To Find Meaning In Life.
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I Became Acquainted With Those Martyrs Whose Behavior In Camp, Whose Suffering And Death, Bore Witness To The Fact That The Last Inner Freedom Cannot Be Lost.
Attitude
Suffering And Death
Lasts
Life Ultimately Means Taking The Responsibility To Find The Right Answer To Its Problems And To Fulfill The Tasks Which It Constantly Sets For Each Individual.
Mean
Responsibility
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Here Lies The Chance For A Man Either To Make Use Of Or To Forgo The Opportunities Of Attaining The Moral Values That A Difficult Situation May Afford Him. And This Decides Whether He Is Worthy Of His Sufferings Or Not.
Lying
Opportunity
Men
I Try To Do Everything As Soon As Possible, And Not At The Last Moment. This Ensures That, When I Am Overburdened With Work, I Will Not Face The Added Pressure Of Knowing That Something Is Still To Be Done.
Knowing
Trying
Done
...being Human Always Points, And Is Directed, To Something, Or Someone, Other Than Oneself—be It Meaning To Fulfill Or Another Human Being To Encounter. The More One Forgets 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.... What Is Called Self-actualization Is Not An Attainable Aim At All, For The Simple Reason That The More One Would Strive For It, The More He Would Miss It. In Other Words, Self-actualization Is Possible Only As A Side-effect Of Self-transcendence.
Simple
Self
Giving
Love Is The Ultimate And The Highest Goal To Which Man Can Aspire.
Life
Love Is
Men
Nothing Is Likely To Help A Person Overcome Or Endure Troubles Than The Consciousness Of Having A Task In Life.
Inspirational
Life
Motivational
No Man Should Judge Unless He Asks Himself In Absolute Honesty Whether In A Similar Situation He Might Not Have Done The Same.
Honesty
Humility
Men
To The European, It Is A Characteristic Of The American Culture That, Again And Again, One Is Commanded And Ordered To 'be Happy.' But Happiness Cannot Be Pursued; It Must Ensue. One Must Have A Reason To 'be Happy.' Once The Reason Is Found, However, One Becomes Happy Automatically. As We See, 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.
Pursuit Of Happiness
Lasts
Culture
I Had Wanted Simply To Convey To The Reader By Way Of Concrete Example That Life Holds A Potential Meaning Under Any Conditions, Even The Most Miserable Ones. And I Thought That If The Point Were Demonstrated In A Situation As Extreme As That In A Concentration Camp, My Book Might Gain A Hearing. I Therefore Felt Responsible For Writing Down What I Had Gone Through, For I Thought It Might Be Helpful To People Who Are Prone To Despair.
Life
Book
Writing
Now, It Is My Contention That The Deneuroticization Of Humanity Requires A Rehumanization Of Psychotherapy.
Humanity
Existential
Psychotherapy
If There Is Meaning In Life At All, Then There Must Be A Meaning In Suffering. Suffering Is An Ineradicable Part Of Life, Even As Fate And Death. Without Suffering And Death Human Life Cannot Be Complete.
Fate
Suffering And Death
Meaning Of Life
A Man Who Becomes Conscious Of The Responsibility He Bears Toward A Human Being Who Affectionately Waits For Him, Or To An Unfinished Work, Will Never Be Able To Throw Away His Life. He Knows The "why" For His Existence, And Will Be Able To Bear Almost Any "how."
Life
Responsibility
Men
The Meaning Of My Life Is To Help Others Find Meaning In Theirs.
Helping Others
Helping
Life Is
Sleep [is Like] A Dove Which Has Landed Near One's Hand And Stays There As Long As One Does Not Pay Any Attention To It.
Sleep
Hands
Long
When A Man Finds That It Is His Destiny To Suffer, He Will Have To Accept His Suffering As His Task; His Single And Unique Task. He Will Have To Acknowledge The Fact That Even In Suffering He Is Unique And Alone In The Universe. No One Can Relieve Him Of His Suffering Or Suffer In His Place. His Unique Opportunity Lies In The Way In Which He Bears His Burden.
Lying
Unique
Opportunity
Human Kindness Can Be Found In All Groups, Even Those Which As A Whole It Would Be Easy To Condemn.
Kindness
Groups
Would Be
Everywhere Man Is Confronted With Fate , With A Chance Of Achieving Something Through His Own Suffering.
Inspirational
Fate
Men
Austrian Public-opinion Pollsters Recently Reported That Those Held In Highest Esteem By Most Of The People Interviewed Are Neither The Great Artists Nor The Great Scientists, Neither The Great Statesmen Nor The Great Sport Figures, But Those Who Master A Hard Lot With Their Heads Held High.
Sports
Artist
People
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.
Suffering
Spirit
Kind
In His Creative Work The Artist Is Dependent On Sources And Resources Deriving From The Spiritual Unconscious.
Spiritual
Artist
Creative
These Tasks, And Therefore The Meaning Of Life, Differ From Man To Man, And From Moment To Moment. Thus It Is Impossible To Define The Meaning In Life In A General Way.
Men
Meaning Of Life
Tasks
At Any Moment, Man Must Decide, For Better Or For Worse, What Will Be The Monument Of His Existence.
Men
Moments
Existence
It Is A Peculiarity Of Man That He Can Only Live By Looking To The Future.
Men
Looking To The Future
Mans Search For Meaning
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 Than Oneself Or As The By-product Of One's Surrender To A Person Other Than Oneself.
Happiness
Dedication
Causes
For The World Is In A Bad State, But Everything Will Become Still Worse Unless Each Of Us Does His Best.
Doe
World
States
The Point Is Not What We Expect From Life, But Rather What Life Expects From Us.
Because Of Social Pressure, Individualism Is Rejected By Most People In Favor Of Conformity. Thus The Individual Relies Mainly Upon The Actions Of Others And Neglects The Meaning Of His Own Personal Life. Hence He Sees His Own Life As Meaningless And Falls Into The “existential Vacuum” Feeling Inner Void. Progressive Automation Causes Increasing Alcoholism, Juvenile Delinquency, And Suicide.
Suicide
Fall
People
[speaking Of His Experience In A Concentration Camp:] As We Said Before, Any Attempt To Restore A Man's Inner Strength In The Camp Had First To Succeed In Showing Him Some Future Goal...woe To Him Who Saw No More Sense In His Life, No Aim, No Purpose, And Therefore No Point In Carrying On. He Was Soon Lost.
Men
Goal
Inner Strength
We Needed To Stop Asking About The Meaning Of Life.
Life
Asking
Mans Search For Meaning
Despair Is Suffering Without Meaning.
Suffering
Despair
Existential
Even Though Conditions Such As Lack Of Sleep, Insufficient Food And Various Mental Stresses May Suggest That The Inmates Were Bound To React In Certain Ways, In The Final Analysis It Becomes Clear That The Sort Of Person The Prisoner Became Was The Result Of An Inner Decision, And Not The Result Of Camp Influences Alone.
Stress
Sleep
Decision
Ultimate Freedom Is A Man's Right To Choose His Attitude.
Attitude
Men
Ultimate Freedom
The One Thing You Can’t Take Away From Me Is The Way I Choose To Respond To What You Do To Me. The Last Of One’s Freedoms Is To Choose Ones Attitude In Any Given Circumstance.
Gratitude
Attitude
Grateful
Success, Like Happiness, Is The Unexpected Side Effect Of One's Personal Dedication To A Cause Greater Than Oneself.
Dedication
Causes
Sides
A Man's Concern, Even His Despair, Over The Worthwhileness Of Life Is An Existential Distress But By No Means A Mental Disease.
Mean
Men
Despair
Between Stimulus And Response Is The Freedom To Choose.
Healing
Conflict
Stimulus And Response
If We Take A Man As He Is, We Make Him Worse, But If We Take Man As He Should Be We Make Him Capable Of Becoming What He Can Be.
Men
Becoming
Should
The Angels Are Lost In Perpetual Contemplation Of An Infinite Glory.
Angel
Infinite
Glory
Love Is The Only Way To Grasp Another Human Being In The Innermost Core Of His Personality. No One Can Become Fully Aware Of The Very Essence Of Another Human Being Unless He Loves Him. By His Love He Is Enabled To See The Essential Traits And Features.
Love
Essence
Personality
Man Is Not Fully Conditioned And Determined But Rather Determines Himself Whether He Gives In To Conditions Or Stands Up To Them. In Other Words, Man Is Ultimately Self-determining. Man Does Not Simply Exist But Always Decides What His Existence Will Be, What He Will Become In The Next Moment.
Men
Self
Giving
...to Think Of Ourselves As Those Who Were Being Questioned By Life-daily And Hourly. Our Answer Must Consist, Not In Talk And Meditation, But In Right Action And In Right Conduct.
Thinking
Meditation
Answers
Each Man Is Questioned By Life; And He Can Only Answer To Life By Answering For His Own Life; To Life He Can Only Respond By Being Responsible.
Life
Men
Answers
Those Who Know How Close The Connection Is Between The State Of Mind Of A Man-his Courage And Hope, Or Lack Of Them-and The State Of Immunity Of His Body Will Understand That The Sudden Loss Of Hope And Courage Can Have A Deadly Effect. The Ultimate Cause Of My Friend's Death Was That The Expected Liberation Did Not Come And He Was Severely Disappointed.
Friendship
Loss
Men
A Sound Philosophy Of Life, I Think, May Be The Most Valuable Asset For A Psychiatrist To Have When He Is Treating A Patient.
Philosophy
Thinking
Mentor
The More One Forgets One’s Own Self, The More Human The Person Becomes.
Self
Forget
Humans
The Meaning Of Our Existence Is Not Invented By Ourselves, But Rather Detected.
Existence
Mans Search For Meaning
The One Thing You Can't Take Away From Me Is The Way I Choose To Respond To What You Do To Me.
Way
One Thing
Fundamentally, Therefore, Any Man Can, Even Under Such Circumstances, Decide What Shall Become Of Him—mentally And Spiritually. He May Retain His Human Dignity Even In A Concentration Camp.
Men
May
Dignity
Usually, To Be Sure, Man Considers Only The Stubble Field Of Transitoriness And Overlooks The Full Granaries Of The Past, Wherein He Had Salvaged Once And For All His Deeds, His Joys And Also His Sufferings. Nothing Can Be Undone, And Nothing Can Be Done Away With. I Should Say Having Been Is The Surest Kind Of Being.
Past
Men
Joy
Man's Search For Meaning Is The Primary Motivation In His Life And Not A "secondary Rationalization" Of Instinctual Drives. This Meaning Is Unique And Specific In That It Must And Can Be Fulfilled By Him Alone; Only Then Does It Achieve A Significance Which Will Satisfy His Own Will To Meaning.
Motivation
Unique
Men
Either Belief In God Is Unconditional Or It Is No Belief At All.
Belief
Unconditional
Belief In God
Woe To Him Who Saw No More Sense In His Life, No Aim, No Purpose, And Therefore No Point In Carrying On.
Purpose
Woe
Carrying On
The Attempt To Develop A Sense Of Humor And To See Things In A Humorous Light Is Some Kind Of A Trick Learned While Mastering The Art Of Living.
Art
Humorous
Light
I Am Absolutely Convinced That The Gas Chambers Of Auschwitz, Treblinka, And Maidanek Were Ultimately Prepared Not In Some Ministry Or Other In Berlin, But Rather At The Desks And In The Lecture Halls Of Nihilistic Scientists And Philosophers.
Ministry
Berlin
Lectures
View Your Life From Your Funeral, Looking Back At Your Life Experiences, What Have You Accomplished? What Would You Have Wanted To Accomplish But Didn't? What Were The Happy Moments? What Were The Sad? What Would You Do Again, And What You Wouldn't
Happiness
Spiritual
Views
As The Struggle For Survival Has Subsided, The Question Has Emerged: Survival For What? Ever More People Have The Means To Live, But No Meaning To Live For.
Struggle
Mean
People
Man's Last Freedom Is His Freedom To Choose How He Will React In Any Given Situation
Men
Lasts
Given
Everything Can Be Taken From A Man But One Thing: The Last Of Human Freedoms - To Choose One's Attitude In Any Given Set Of Circumstances, To Choose One's Own Way.
Inspirational
Leadership
Being Happy
The Salvation Of Man Is Through Love And In Love.
Love
Life
Men
What You Have Experienced, No Power On Earth Can Take From You.
Earth
Mans Search For Meaning
The Last Freedom Is Choosing Your Attitude.
Attitude
Lasts
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.
Giving
Causes
Self Actualization
Love Is The Only Way To Grasp Another Human Being In The Innermost Core Of His Personality
Love
Personality
Way
Man Does Not Simply Exist But Always Decides What His Existence Will Be, What He Will Become The Next Moment. By The Same Token, Every Human Being Has The Freedom To Change At Any Instant.
Men
Doe
Next
I Never Would Have Made It If I Could Not Have Laughed. It Lifted Me Momentarily Out Of This Horrible Situation, Just Enough To Make It Livable.
Happiness
Laughter
Laughing
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.
Achievement
Tragedy
Triumph
A Man Who Could Not See The End Of His"provisional Existence" Was Not Able To Aim At An Ultimate Goal In Life.
Men
Goal
Able
I Shall Never Forget How I Was Roused One Night By The Groans Of A Fellow Prisoner, Who Threw Himself About In His Sleep, Obviously Having A Horrible Nightmare. Since I Had Always Been Especially Sorry For People Who Suffered From Fearful Dreams Or Deliria, I Wanted To Wake The Poor Man. Suddenly I Drew Back The Hand Which Was Ready To Shake Him, Frightened At The Thing I Was About To Do. At That Moment I Became Intensely Conscious Of The Fact That No Dream, No Matter How Horrible, Could Be As Bad As The Reality Of The Camp Which Surrounded Us, And To Which I Was About To Recall Him.
Dream
Sorry
Sleep
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.
Courage
Grief
Men
Understanding Quotes: Their Essence and Application

Quotes, or quotations, are powerful tools in communication, encapsulating ideas, emotions, and wisdom in concise expressions. They serve various purposes across different contexts, from academic writing to everyday conversation.

1. Defining Quotes

A quote is a repetition of someone else's statement or thoughts. It can be a direct replication of words spoken or written by another individual, often used to support arguments, provide evidence, or convey profound insights.


2. The Importance of Quotes

2.1. Enhancing Credibility

Incorporating quotes from authoritative sources can bolster the credibility of your work. By referencing experts or primary sources, you demonstrate thorough research and a solid foundation for your arguments.


2.2. Providing Evidence

Quotes serve as concrete evidence to support claims. In academic and professional writing, they validate points made, offering readers a basis to trust the information presented.


2.3. Conveying Emotions and Perspectives

Quotes can encapsulate emotions and perspectives succinctly. They allow writers to express complex feelings or viewpoints through the words of others, often more eloquently than paraphrasing.


3. Types of Quotes

3.1. Direct Quotes

Direct quotes involve copying the exact words from a source, enclosed in quotation marks. They are used when the original wording is significant or particularly well-expressed.


3.2. Indirect Quotes (Paraphrasing)

Indirect quotes restate the original message in your own words. While not enclosed in quotation marks, they still require proper attribution to the original source.


3.3. Block Quotes

Block quotes are lengthy direct quotations, formatted as a separate block of text. They are typically used for quotes exceeding a certain length, varying by citation style. For instance, in APA style, quotes longer than 40 words are formatted as block quotes.



4. Proper Usage of Quotes


4.1. Contextual Relevance

Ensure that the quote you choose is relevant to the topic and adds value to your content. Avoid inserting quotes solely for decorative purposes.


4.2. Integration into Your Writing

Seamlessly integrate quotes into your writing. Introduce them appropriately and follow up with analysis or commentary to connect them to your main points.


4.3. Attribution and Citation

Always attribute quotes to their original authors and provide proper citations according to the required style guide (APA, MLA, Chicago, etc.).


5. Common Mistakes to Avoid


5.1. Overusing Quotes

Relying too heavily on quotes can overshadow your voice. Use them sparingly to support your arguments, not replace them.


5.2. Lack of Analysis

Presenting a quote without analysis or explanation can leave readers questioning its relevance. Always follow up with your interpretation or discussion.


5.3. Misquoting or Taking Out of Context

Ensure that quotes are accurate and not taken out of context, as this can mislead readers and undermine your credibility.



6. Quotes in Different Contexts


6.1. Academic Writing

In academic writing, quotes are used to support arguments, provide evidence, and engage with existing literature. Proper citation is crucial to avoid plagiarism.


6.2. Journalism

Journalists use quotes to provide firsthand accounts, add authenticity, and present multiple perspectives within a story.


6.3. Literature and Creative Writing

In literature, quotes can be used to convey character voices, themes, and stylistic elements. They enrich narratives and provide depth to storytelling.



7. Punctuation and Formatting


Understanding the correct punctuation and formatting of quotes is essential:


Quotation Marks: Always enclose direct quotes within quotation marks.


Punctuation Placement: In American English, periods and commas are placed inside quotation marks, while colons and semicolons are placed outside.


Block Quotes: For longer quotes, format them as block quotes without quotation marks, and indent the entire block.



8. Ethical Considerations


Ethical use of quotes involves accurate representation, proper attribution, and respect for intellectual property. Misuse can lead to plagiarism, which carries serious academic and professional consequences.

9. Tools for Managing Quotes


Utilize tools like citation generators and plagiarism checkers to manage quotes effectively. These tools help ensure proper formatting and originality in your writing.



Conclusion


Quotes are invaluable in enriching content, providing evidence, and conveying complex ideas succinctly. When used appropriately, they enhance the quality and credibility of your writing. Always ensure relevance, proper integration, and ethical usage to maximize their impact.


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