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StillnessQuote

Everything can be taken from a man but one thing: the freedom to choose one's attitude in any given set of circumstances.

Viktor Frankl, Man's Search for Meaning

Mind

The story behind the card

Frankl wrote this in the first part of Man's Search for Meaning, which describes daily life in the Nazi camps. He remembers men who went from hut to hut consoling others and handing over their last bread. They were few, he writes, but they showed that one freedom could not be taken away: the choice of how to meet one's circumstances. His claim is narrow. He does not say suffering is good, only that even when outward freedom is gone, a person's response can still be their own.

Türkçe oku
İnsanın elinden her şey alınabilir, bir tek şey dışında: hangi koşulda olursa olsun, tavrını seçme özgürlüğü.
Viktor Frankl, İnsanın Anlam Arayışı

Frankl bu cümleyi, Nazi kamplarındaki gündelik hayatı anlattığı İnsanın Anlam Arayışı'nın ilk bölümünde yazdı. Barakadan barakaya dolaşıp başkalarını teselli eden, son ekmeğini veren mahkûmları hatırlar. Sayıları azdı, der; ama bir özgürlüğün insanın elinden alınamayacağını gösterdiler: Koşullarına nasıl karşılık vereceğini seçme özgürlüğü. İddiası sınırlıdır. Acının iyi bir şey olduğunu söylemez; yalnızca dış özgürlük tümüyle yok olduğunda bile insanın olana verdiği karşılığın kendisine ait kalabileceğini söyler.

Sources and further reading

Background reading: Viktor Frankl
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