Happiness and Meaning

The Meaning of Life is Life!

For success, like happiness, cannot be pursued; it must ensue, and it only does so as the unintended side-effect of one’s personal dedication to a cause greater than oneself or as the by-product of one’s surrender to a person other than oneself. — Victor Frankl

The quote above comes from Victor (Viktor) Frankl. He was a neurologist, psychiatrist, philosopher and writer. He was also a Holocaust survivor.

Born in Vienna in 1905, his interest in psychology and the role of meaning developed when he began taking night classes on applied psychology while in junior high school.

As a teenager, he began corresponding with Sigmund Freud. He began to question some of Freud’s ideas, eventually aligning himself with ideas expressed by Alfred Adler.

After earning his M.D. in 1930, Frankl gained extensive experience at Steinhof Psychiatric Hospital, where he was responsible for treating suicidal women.

In 1937, he began a private practice, but the Nazi’s annexation of Austria in 1938 limited his opportunity to treat patients.

In 1940, he joined Rothschild Hospital, the only hospital in Vienna still admitting Jews, as head of the neurology department.