Philosopher Viktor Frankl says yes to life and read. What is the meaning of human life? Holocaust survivor and psychologist Viktor Frankl explains in his book “Say Yes to Life.” Hello dear readers

Victor Frankl

Say “Yes!” to life: a psychologist in a concentration camp

Editor D. Leontyev

Project Manager I. Seregina

Technical editor N. Lisitsyna

Corrector O . Galkin

layout designer E. Sentsova

Cover designer S. Prokofiev

All rights reserved. No part of the electronic copy of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any means, including posting on the Internet or corporate networks, for private or public use without the written permission of the copyright owner.

Stubbornness of spirit

This book is one of the few greatest human creations.

Karl Jaspers

Blessed is he who has visited this world

In his fatal moments,

He was called by the all-good

As a companion at a feast.

F.I. Tyutchev

Before you is a great book by a great man.

Its author is not just an outstanding scientist, although this is true: in terms of the number of honorary degrees awarded to him by different universities around the world, he has no equal among psychologists and psychiatrists. He is not just a world celebrity, although it is difficult to argue with this: 31 of his books have been translated into several dozen languages, he has traveled all over the world, and many outstanding people and powerful people have sought meetings with him - from such outstanding philosophers as Karl Jaspers and Martin Heidegger, and to political and religious leaders including Pope Paul VI and Hillary Clinton. Less than a decade has passed since Viktor Frankl's death, but few would dispute that he proved to be one of humanity's greatest spiritual teachers of the 20th century. He not only built a psychological theory of meaning and a philosophy of man based on it, he opened the eyes of millions of people to the possibilities of discovering meaning in their own lives.

The relevance of Viktor Frankl's ideas is determined by the unique meeting of a large-scale personality with the circumstances of place, time and mode of action that gave these ideas such a loud resonance. He managed to live a long life, and the dates of his life are 1905–1997. – absorbed the 20th century almost completely. He lived almost his entire life in Vienna - in the very center of Europe, almost at the epicenter of several revolutions and two world wars and close to the front lines of the forty-year Cold War. He survived them all, survived them in both senses of the word - not only by surviving, but also by translating his experiences into books and public lectures. Viktor Frankl experienced the entire tragedy of the century.

Almost in the middle, a fault runs through his life, marked by the dates 1942–1945. These are the years of Frankl's stay in Nazi concentration camps, inhuman existence with a scanty probability of surviving. Almost anyone who was lucky enough to survive would consider it the greatest happiness to erase these years from their lives and forget them like a bad dream. But even on the eve of the war, Frankl had largely completed the development of his theory of the desire for meaning as the main driving force of behavior and personality development. And in the concentration camp, this theory received an unprecedented test of life and confirmation - the greatest chances of survival, according to Frankl’s observations, were not those who were distinguished by the strongest health, but those who were distinguished by the strongest spirit, who had a meaning for which to live. Few people can be remembered in the history of mankind who paid such a high price for their beliefs and whose views were subjected to such severe testing. Viktor Frankl is on a par with Socrates and Giordano Bruno, who accepted death as truth. He, too, had the opportunity to avoid such a fate. Shortly before his arrest, he, like several other high-profile professionals, managed to obtain a visa to enter the United States, but after much hesitation, he decided to stay to support his elderly parents, who did not have a chance to leave with him.

Frankl himself had something to live for: he took with him to the concentration camp the manuscript of a book with the first version of the doctrine of meaning, and his concern was first to try to preserve it, and then, when this failed, to restore the lost text. In addition, until his liberation, he hoped to see his wife alive, with whom he was separated in the camp, but this hope was not destined to come true - his wife died, like almost all of his relatives. The fact that he himself survived was both an accident and a pattern. It was an accident that he was not included in any of the teams heading to death, heading not for any specific reason, but simply because the death machine needed to be powered by someone. The pattern is that he went through all this, preserving himself, his personality, his “stubbornness of spirit,” as he calls a person’s ability not to give in, not to break under the blows falling on the body and soul.

Having been released in 1945 and learning that his entire family had died in the crucible of the World War, he did not break down or become bitter. Over the course of five years, he published a dozen books in which he outlined his unique philosophical teaching, psychological theory of personality and psychotherapeutic methodology based on the idea of a person’s desire for meaning. The desire for meaning helps a person to survive, and it also leads to the decision to die; it helps to endure the inhuman conditions of a concentration camp and withstand the ordeal of fame, wealth and honor. Viktor Frankl passed both tests and remained a Man with a capital M, testing the effectiveness of his own theory on himself and proving that a person is worth believing in. “Each time requires its own psychotherapy,” he wrote. He managed to find that nerve of time, that request of people that did not find an answer - the problem of meaning - and, based on his life experience, find simple, but at the same time tough and convincing words about the main thing. This man has a rare case! – and I want and have something to learn in our time of universal relativity, disrespect for knowledge and indifference to authorities.

“Stubbornness of spirit” is his own formula. The spirit is stubborn, despite the suffering that the body may experience, despite the discord that the soul may experience. Frankl is noticeably religious, but he avoids talking about it directly because he is convinced that a psychologist and psychotherapist should be able to understand any person and help him, regardless of his faith or lack thereof. Spirituality is not limited to religiosity. “In the end,” he said in his Moscow lecture, “to God, if he exists, it is more important whether you are a good person than whether you believe in him or not.”

The first version of the book “Psychologist in a Concentration Camp,” which formed the basis of this publication, was dictated by him in 9 days, shortly after liberation, and was published in 1946 anonymously, without attribution. The first edition of three thousand sold out, but the second edition sold very slowly. This book was much more successful in the United States; its first English edition appeared in 1959 with a foreword by the most authoritative Gordon Allport, whose role in Frankl’s international recognition is extremely great. This book turned out to be insensitive to the whims of intellectual fashion. Five times it was declared “book of the year” in the United States. For more than 30 years, it has gone through several dozen publications with a total circulation of over 9 million copies. When, in the early 1990s, a national survey was conducted in the United States, commissioned by the Library of Congress, to find out which books had the greatest impact on people's lives, the American edition of Frankl's book, which you are holding in your hands, entered the top ten!

The new, most complete German edition of Frankl's main book, entitled “And Still Say Yes to Life,” was published in 1977 and has been constantly republished since then. It also included Frankl's philosophical play Synchronization at Birkenwald, which had only been published once before, in 1948, in a literary magazine under the pseudonym Gabriel Lyon. In this play, Frankl finds a different, artistic form for expressing his main, philosophical ideas - and not only in the words spoken by the prisoner Franz, Frankl’s alter ego, but also in the structure of the stage action. This translation was made from this edition. Abridged versions of Frankl's story about the concentration camp, based on other publications, were previously published in Russian. Its full version is published in Russian for the first time.

By reading life-affirming books, you can understand a lot and take something useful for yourself. The topic of psychology has always been interesting and fascinating even for those who have not previously read such works, preferring only fiction. Why? Everything is very simple, such works provide an opportunity to radically change your life and worldview.

Viktor Frankl is a modern writer of psychological works. As he states in his book “Saying “Yes!” to Life: A Psychologist in a Concentration Camp,” there are periods in human life when everything literally falls out of hand, problems come one after another. What to do in this case, how to restore psychological and mental balance? A person begins to convince himself that everything will be fine, but other people have much worse problems and it is impossible to solve them. Is it correct? Is it worth doing this?

According to Viktor Frankl, such therapy does not last very long and ends when a person’s patience “bursts.” The worse the situation, the more a person stops believing in the best and sets himself up for the worst, and therefore soon the situation can only get worse. Is it worth paying attention to the fact that others have it worse if the problem itself will not go away? Probably not.

The main character of the book “Saying “Yes!” to Life: A Psychologist in a Concentration Camp” is not just a person, he is a Psychologist who acts as a widower, a small child, a neighbor and just a good friend. His story is quite sad and requires compassion, but the hero himself does not require this compassion for himself. He is ready to endure all his experiences and rethink his life. This article is far from scientific, it does not tell one story, it covers everyone.

Reading the book “Saying “Yes!” to Life: A Psychologist in a Concentration Camp” is quite easy, and thanks to it, the reader has to see human destinies thrown into a whirlpool of cruelty. Reading the book is quite difficult, since it causes pain and suffering, and not because it shows a person’s stay in a concentration camp. It’s just that from a psychological point of view, all this is quite difficult.

To some extent, this work is autobiographical, since Viktor Frankl himself survived the concentration camp, went through it and felt all the horrors himself. At the same time, the writer does not tell how difficult and unbearable it was for him there; the author pays more attention to the psychological side of the coin, analyzing his stay in the camp. The book “Saying “Yes!” to Life: A Psychologist in a Concentration Camp” is quite easy to read and understand, it does not have a heavy load, but at the same time it is cruel.

On our literary website you can download Viktor Frankl’s book “Say Yes to Life!” free in formats suitable for different devices - epub, fb2, txt, rtf. Do you like to read books and always keep up with new releases? We have a large selection of books of various genres: classics, modern fiction, psychological literature and children's publications. In addition, we offer interesting and educational articles for aspiring writers and all those who want to learn how to write beautifully. Each of our visitors will be able to find something useful and exciting for themselves.

Victor Frankl

Say “Yes!” to life: a psychologist in a concentration camp

Editor D. Leontyev

Project Manager I. Seregina

Technical editor N. Lisitsyna

Corrector O . Galkin

layout designer E. Sentsova

Cover designer S. Prokofiev

Stubbornness of spirit

This book is one of the few greatest human creations.

Karl Jaspers

Blessed is he who has visited this world

In his fatal moments,

He was called by the all-good

As a companion at a feast.

F.I. Tyutchev

Before you is a great book by a great man.

At the end of his life, Frankl visited Moscow twice and spoke at Moscow University. He received an extremely warm welcome. His thoughts fell on fertile soil, and today Frankl is perceived in Russia more as one of his own, and not as a stranger. Frankl's previously published books received an equally warm reception. There is every reason to hope that this publication is destined for a long life.

23.11.2015 11:58

Live with an even superiority over life - do not be afraid of troubles and do not yearn for happiness. It's enough for you if you don't freeze and if thirst and hunger don't tear your insides with their claws... If your spine isn't broken, both legs walk, both arms bend, both eyes see and both ears hear - who else should you envy?

Alexander Solzhenitsyn

After reading the very first pages of the great, without exaggeration, book “Saying Yes to Life” by the great scientist, psychologist, philosopher Viktor Frankl, I realized that my supposed problems are not problems at all. I suddenly realized how far I was from an objective perception of my life. I haven't seen before how much I have. Now I clearly realized that I am a happy person!

Want to know what the book is about?

But it would not be logical to begin to reveal the contents of the book without first mentioning its author. Viktor Frankl (1905-1997) is an outstanding Austrian scientist with a worldwide reputation. He was awarded a huge number of academic degrees by different universities around the world. He has written more than 30 books dedicated to revealing the psychological theory of the meaning of life and human philosophy. He showed millions of people - myself included - the opportunity to understand the meaning of their lives.

He spent 1942-1945 years of his life in Nazi concentration camps. Moreover, shortly before his arrest, as a highly qualified professional, he had the opportunity to travel to the United States. However, he decided to stay because... I couldn’t leave my elderly parents. Perhaps this feat, like many of his other feats performed in concentration camps, mystically saved his life. The fact that he survived is a combination of chance and pattern. It can also be called an accident that he was never included in the teams formed for destruction every day. It can be called a pattern that he survived the hell of hunger, torture, cold, humiliation, preserving his principles of humanity.

Even before the war, he wrote a book - a teaching about the meaning of life. The manuscript of the book was with him when he was sent to the concentration camp. He tried to save her, but of course without success. To pass such tests and preserve his personality and human face, he was helped by the hope of seeing his wife among the living.

Having experienced the effectiveness of his theory in the death camps, the scientist realized that the strongest chance of survival in such inhuman conditions had the strong in spirit, and not the physically strong.

The author's main goal was to write as complete a story as possible about the experiences of people in concentration camps, and not about events. However, for the completeness of the transfer of experiences, it was impossible to do without a detailed description of events in some places in the book. In the book, the author tried to convey both his reactions and experiences, and the experiences of millions of people who passed this severe test.

He calls the 1st phase the shock phase.
The 2nd phase is the phase of apathy, when after a few days a person’s reactions begin to change, when something in a person’s soul seems to die, the body’s defenses turn on.
And phase 3 is liberation. She exhibits paradoxical reactions of lack of joy. The prisoner requires serious psychological support.

The body's defenses

The author was amazed by the perfection of the human body, in which unimaginable reserves and capabilities are hidden. They appeared immediately upon arrival at the death camp. For six months they wore a single shirt and did not wash. Always dirty from constant excavation work, where wounds cannot be avoided. But they had no infections or inflammations. They worked in the cold, half-footed, in shabby clothes. But for some reason no one even caught a runny nose. How is this possible, at what point does the body turn on such protective forces? When is there such a tragic situation, a constant threat to life?

Hunger

The book is not about the global horrors of death camps, but about the daily “little” tortures of prisoners that people in the camps experienced every day. For example, I was struck by the detailed narrative about how the author struggled with hunger every day, and what he experienced at the same time. For a minute it seemed to me that I also felt this state.

Together with everyone else, he suffered from hunger and exhaustion. The food the prisoners received consisted of a bowl of empty, watery soup and a meager piece of bread. There was also a so-called additive: either a small piece of terrible sausage, or a spoonful of jam, or a small piece of cheese. Considering that the prisoners worked hard physically and were constantly in the cold with little or no clothing, this food was completely insufficient.

How can a person who has never starved himself understand this condition?

How to imagine that you are standing in the mud, in the cold. At the same time, you need to hammer the stubborn ground with a pickaxe. And every minute you listen for when the siren will call for the only half-hour lunch break in this and every day. Do you constantly think whether they will give you bread? Do you constantly ask yourself what time it is? With fingers stiff and swollen from the cold, you feel a piece of bread in your pocket, break off a crumb, bring it to your mouth, and frantically put it back.

A very serious topic of debate among prisoners was how best to use the meager bread ration. Two parties were even created. One believed that the daily portion should be eaten immediately. They put forward two arguments. First: at least once a day you can briefly suppress unbearable hunger; second: with this approach, bread will not be stolen. In the second, they believed that there was no need to eat all the bread at once. They also had convincing arguments in favor of this opinion. The author himself eventually joined group 2. But he had his own motives. He says that the most unbearable of all 24 hours of the day was the moment of awakening. Even at night, piercing whistles tore everyone out of sleep. The moment came to fight the dampness, when it was necessary to climb into wet boots with swollen feet. At the same time, to see the crying of men with wounded legs... That’s when he clutched at such, albeit weak, consolation - a piece of bread kept from the evening!

Suicide

You may ask, how is it possible to fight for life in such conditions, who can do it? Death may seem like a reward compared to such a life. The author says that, indeed, almost every prisoner, even if only briefly, had the idea of committing suicide. But he himself, being a deeply religious man, immediately upon arriving at the camp, vowed “not to throw himself on the wire.” Although knowing the numbers, he understood that he would hardly be able to escape multiple selections of destruction.

Apathy

The author talks about the state of apathy that appeared in all prisoners after a state of shock. At the very beginning, the prisoners could not bear the sadistic images. They could not watch as their comrades were forced to squat in the cold, in the mud, under the blows of a whip. But days passed, and then weeks, and they began to react differently to the cry of pain heard nearby. Indifferent and detached. For several months in the camp, they had already seen so many sick, suffering, dying and dead that such pictures no longer touched them.

The author, as a doctor and scientist, was then amazed at his own insensitivity. In fact, apathy is a special defense mechanism of the body. All reality seems to be shrinking. All feelings and thoughts are concentrated on one task only: how to survive!

When it really hurt

Everyone got used to the kicks and blows that everyone constantly received in the camp. But the physical pain inflicted on the prisoners was not the most unbearable pain. It was harder to endure the mental pain and contain the outrage at injustice. This, despite the apathy, tormented me very much.

The question of the meaning of life

Initially, we pose this question incorrectly. We must first understand ourselves, and then explain to everyone: it’s not about our expectations from life, it’s about what life expects from us. To put it philosophically, a Copernican revolution is necessary: every minute and every day life poses questions to us, but we must answer. And not by reasoning, but by correct actions and behavior. It is how we acted in this particular case that will determine how circumstances will develop further and what next question life (or God) will ask us.

Love

In conclusion, I would like to quote the author’s will, which he gave to his friend on the day that he thought was the last day of his life: “Listen, Otto! If I don't come home to my wife, and if you see her, you will tell her then - listen carefully! First: we talked about her every day - remember? Second: I never loved anyone more than her. Third: the short time that we were together remained for me such happiness that outweighs all the bad, even what I have to endure now.”

Quote: This book is one of the few greatest human creations.
Karl JaspersWhat is the book about?
This amazing book made its author one of the greatest spiritual teachers of humanity in the 20th century. In it, the philosopher and psychologist Viktor Frankl, who went through Nazi death camps, opened the path to understanding the meaning of life for millions of people around the world. In the terrible, murderous conditions of the concentration camps, he showed the extraordinary strength of the human spirit. The spirit is stubborn, despite the weakness of the body and the discord of the soul. A person has something to live for! Why the book is worth reading
The book sold millions of copies in dozens of countries, major philosophers considered it one of the greatest works of humanity, and it helped millions of ordinary people change their lives. According to a survey by the US National Library of Congress, the book was among the ten books that most influenced the lives of people around the world. Who is this book for?
For those who explore themselves and their inner world. Who knows the meaning and who has lost it. For those who have everything in order, and for those who are tired of life. This great book will teach you the ability to find meaning in any situation. Who is the author
Viktor Frankl (1905-1997) - famous Austrian psychotherapist, psychologist and philosopher. During World War II, he had a terrible opportunity to test his own concept. Having gone through Nazi death camps, he saw that the greatest chance of surviving in inhuman conditions was not the strong in body, but the strong in spirit. Those who knew what they lived for. Frankl himself had something to live for: he took with him to the concentration camp a manuscript that was to become a great book.
Content
01. Stubbornness of spirit. Preface by D. Leontyev. (13:24)
02. Unknown prisoner. (03:22)
03. Active and passive selection. (05:17)
04. Report of prisoner No. 119104 (psychological experience). (08:56)
05. Phase one: arrival at the camp. (00:35)
06. Auschwitz station. (08:26)
07. First selection. (06:11)
08. Disinfection. What remains for man: bare existence. (06:01)
09. First reactions. (05:01)
10. “Throw yourself onto the wire”? (06:32)
11. Phase two: life in the camp. Apathy. (07:56)
12. What hurt. (03:16)
13. The severity of contempt. (10:54)
14. Dreams of prisoners. (02:32)
15. Hunger. (07:52)
16. Sexuality. (01:00)
17. Without any sentimentality. (03:05)
18. Politics and religion. (03:43)
19. Spiritualistic seance. (02:01)
20. Withdrawal. (03:31)
21. When everything is taken away.... (06:12)
22. Meditation in a ditch. (04:11)
23. Monologue at dawn. (02:22)
24. Art in a concentration camp. (05:56)
25. Camp humor. (06:48)
26. We envy the prisoners. Happiness is when the worst has passed by. (08:10)
27. To the typhus camp? (05:39)
28. Thirst for loneliness.... (04:49)
29. Fate plays with a person. (06:41)
30. The last wish, learned by heart. (04:43)
31. Escape plan. (15:31)
32. Irritability. (08:43)
33. Inner freedom. (07:54)
34. Fate is a gift. (06:34)
35. Analysis of temporary existence. (09:35)
36. Spinoza as an educator. (11:34)
37. Ask a question about the meaning of life. (04:16)
38. Suffering as a feat. (01:40)
39. Waiting. (02:48)
40. A word spoken on time. (03:44)
41. Healing the soul. (06:09)
42. Psychology of camp guards. (08:43)
43. Phase three: after release. (08:01)
44. “Let go”... (09:04)

Quote: This book is one of the few greatest human creations.
Karl Jaspers than the book
This amazing book made by her author is one of the greatest spiritual teachers of mankind in the 20th century. In it, the philosopher and psychologist Victor Frankl, who passed through the Nazi death camps, opened millions of people around the world the way to understand the meaning of life. In the terrible, murderous conditions of concentration camps, he showed the extraordinary power of the human spirit. The spirit disorder is stubborn, despite the weakness of the body and the soul"s. Man has something to live for! Why is the book worth reading
The book sold millions of copies in dozens of countries, the largest philosophers considered it one of the greatest works of mankind, and helped millions of ordinary people to change their lives. According to the National Library of Congress poll, the book was included in the top ten books that influenced the lives of people around the world most of all. For whom this book
For those who explore themselves and their inner world. Who knows the meaning, and who has lost it. For those who have everything in order, and for those who are tired of life. This great book will teach the ability to find meaning in any situation.
Victor Frankl (1905-1997) - the famous Austrian doctor-psychotherapist, psychologist and philosopher. During the Second World War, he received a terrible opportunity to experience his own concept. Having gone through the Nazi death camps, he saw that the greatest chance to survive in inhuman conditions was not strong in body, but strong in spirit. Those who knew what they are living for. Frankl himself had something to live for: in the concentration camp he took with him a manuscript, which was to become a great book.
Content
01. Stubbornness of the spirit. Foreword by D. Leontyev. (13:24)
02. Unknown prisoner. (03:22)
03. Active and passive selection. (05:17)
04. Report of the prisoner No. 119104 (psychological experience). (08:56)
05. Phase one: Arrival at the camp. (00:35)
06. Auschwitz station. (08:26)
07. First selection. (06:11)
08. Disinfection. What remains for man: bare existence. (06:01)
09. First reactions. (05:01)
10. "Rush on the Wire"?. (06:32)
11. Phase two: life in the camp. Apathy. (07:56)
12. What Hurts. (03:16)
13. The severity of contempt. (10:54)
14. Dreams of prisoners. (02:32)
15. Hunger. (07:52)
16. Sexuality. (01:00)
17. Without any sentimentality. (03:05)
18. Politics and religion. (03:43)
19. Spiritual Session. (02:01)
20. Care in yourself. (03:31)
21. When all is taken away .... (06:12)
22. Meditation in the ditch. (04:11)
23. A monologue at dawn. (02:22)
24. Art in the concentration camp. (05:56)
25. Camp humor. (06:48)
26. We envy the prisoners. Happiness is when the worst has bypassed the party. (08:10)
27. In the typhus camp?. (05:39)
28. Thirst for loneliness.... (04:49)
29. Fate plays a man. (06:41)
30. The last wish, learned by heart. (04:43)
31. The plan of flight. (15:31)
32. Irritability. (08:43)
33. Inner freedom. (07:54)
34. Fate is a gift. (06:34)
35. Analysis of temporal existence. (09:35)
36. Spinoza as a teacher. (11:34)
37. Ask a question about the meaning of life. (04:16)
38. Suffering as a feat. (01:40)
39. Waiting. (02:48)
40. The word spoken in time. (03:44)
41. The healing of the soul. (06:09)
42. Psychology of camp security. (08:43)
43. Phase three: after liberation. (08:01)