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A human being is a deciding being.
Viktor E. Frankl
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Interpretation

What this quote means

This quote emphasizes the human capacity for making choices and decisions, highlighting our unique role in shaping our lives.

Viktor E. Frankl's assertion that 'A human being is a deciding being' encapsulates the profound idea that each individual has the inherent ability to make choices that define their existence. This concept suggests that our decisions, rather than external circumstances, play a crucial role in determining our destiny and fulfilling our purpose, underscoring the importance of personal responsibility and the search for meaning in life.

Themes

DecisionChoicesResponsibilityMeaningDestiny

In practice

Example use cases

During a motivational speech about personal growth.

More from Viktor E. Frankl

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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The crowning experience of all, for the homecoming man, is the wonderful feeling that, after all he has suffered, there is nothing he need fear anymore—except his God.
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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.
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It is the pursuit of happiness that thwarts happiness.
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Logotherapy sees the human patient in all his humanness. I step up to the core of the patient's being. And that is a being in search of meaning, a being that is transcending himself, a being capable of acting in love for others.
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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.
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Quote by Viktor E. Frankl | QuoteProject