Man’s Search for Meaning – Viktor E. Frankl

Brief Description of the Book

Man’s Search for Meaning is a deeply reflective work based on Viktor Frankl’s experiences as a Holocaust survivor and psychiatrist. The book introduces logotherapy, the idea that the primary human drive is the search for meaning, even in suffering. Rather than avoiding pain, Frankl argues that individuals can choose their response to adversity. This makes the book extremely powerful for Ethics (GS-4), Essay, leadership, resilience, mental strength, and value-based governance answers.

The following extracts may be used in OPSC answer writing:

“Everything can be taken from a man but one thing: the last of the human freedoms—to choose one’s attitude in any given set of circumstances.” → GS-4 Ethics: Moral autonomy, ethical choice under pressure, integrity in adverse situations

“When we are no longer able to change a situation, we are challenged to change ourselves.” → GS-4 / Essay: Resilience, adaptability, administrative constraints, reform from within the system

“Those who have a ‘why’ to live, can bear with almost any ‘how’.” → Essay / GS-4: Motivation, purpose-driven leadership, public service commitment

“Suffering ceases to be suffering at the moment it finds a meaning.” → GS-4 Ethics: Handling hardship, moral courage, crisis governance, disaster response leadership

“What is to give light must endure burning.” → Essay / GS-4: Sacrifice, leadership responsibility, ethical cost of public service

“Life is never made unbearable by circumstances, but only by lack of meaning and purpose.” → Essay: Existential crisis, youth issues, societal stress, governance and well-being

“Between stimulus and response there is a space. In that space is our power to choose our response.” → GS-4 Ethics: Emotional intelligence, impulse control, ethical decision-making

“An abnormal reaction to an abnormal situation is normal behavior.” → GS-4 / Essay: Compassionate administration, mental health sensitivity, humane governance

“Happiness cannot be pursued; it must ensue.” → Essay / GS-4: Critique of materialism, sustainable happiness, ethical living

“The more one forgets himself—by giving himself to a cause to serve—the more human he is.” → GS-4 Ethics: Public service values, altruism, citizen-centric governance