Yes to Life In Spite of Everything

Find hope even in these dark times with this rediscovered masterpiece, a companion to his international bestseller Man’s Search for Meaning.

Eleven months after he was liberated from the Nazi concentration camps, Viktor E. Frankl held a series of public lectures in Vienna. The psychiatrist, who would soon become world famous, explained his central thoughts on meaning, resilience, and the importance of embracing life even in the face of great adversity.

Published here for the very first time in English, Frankl’s words resonate as strongly today—as the world faces a coronavirus pandemic, social isolation, and great economic uncertainty—as they did in 1946. He offers an insightful exploration of the maxim “Live as if you were living for the second time,” and he unfolds his basic conviction that every crisis contains opportunity. Despite the unspeakable horrors of the camps, Frankl learned from the strength of his fellow inmates that it is always possible to “say yes to life”—a profound and timeless lesson for us all.

Viktor E. Frankl was a professor of neurology and psychiatry at the University of Vienna Medical School until his death in 1997. He was the founder of what has come to be called the Third Viennese School of Psychotherapy—the school of logotherapy.

Born in 1905, Dr. Frankl received the degrees of Doctor of Medicine and Doctor of Philosophy from the University of Vienna. During World War II, he spent three years at Auschwitz, Dachau, and other concentration camps; most of his family, including his wife and parents, perished in the camps.

In his lifetime, Frankl published many books, most notably the international bestseller Man’s Search for Meaning, which has been translated into 50 languages. He was a guest lecturer at universities throughout the world and made 51 tours throughout the United States alone.

Introduction by Daniel Goleman

On the Meaning and Value of Life I

On the Meaning and Value of Life II

Experimentum Crucis

Afterword by Franz Vesely
About Viktor E. Frankl
Further Works by Viktor E. Frankl
About the Viktor Frankl Institute
About Daniel Goleman and Franz Vesely
Notes