September 21, 2008

  • Existence and Meaning

    If men's destiny is death, then every part of life is demeaning. Each is a step towards non-existence, each is by itself a denial of one's destiny. The search for purpose is irrational, is a hopeless escape from one's fate. But still men seek for hope, because they desperately need a reason for living.

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    Gordon W. Allport, Foreword to Victor Frankl's "Men's Search for Meaning"

    To live is to suffer, to survive is to find meaning in the suffering. If there is a purpose in life at all, there must be a purpose in suffering and in dying. But no man can tell another what this purpose is. Each must find out for himself, and must accept the responsibility that his answer prescribes.