Man's Search for Meaning, Viktor E. Frankl Excerpts

I am still just reading the Preface of A Man's Search for Meaning, by Viktor E. Frankl & this is deep.

Here is a collection of excerpts from the book that I like.

I will keep on updating this post as I read the book.

“He who has a why to live can bear with almost any how.”

“the last of human freedoms" - the ability to "choose one's attitude in a given set of circumstances.”

“Hunger, humiliation, fear and deep anger at injustice are rendered tolerable by closely guarded images of beloved persons, by religion, by a grim sense of humor, and even by glimpses of the healing beauties of nature - a tree or a sunset.”

“Don't aim at success - the more you aim at it and make it a target, the more you are going to miss it. 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. Happiness must happen, and the same holds for success: you have to let it happen by not caring about it. I want you to listen to what your conscience commands you to do and go on to carry it out to the best of your knowledge. Then you will live to see that in the long run - in the long run, I say! -

success will follow you precisely because you had forgotten to think of it.”

“psychology requires a certain scientific detachment”

“when we saw a comrade smoking his own cigarettes, we knew he had given up faith in his strength to carry on, and, once lost, the will to live seldom returned.”

“An abnormal reaction to an abnormal situation is normal behavior”

There is always a choice of thought & action. “man does have a choice of action. There were enough examples, often of a heroic nature, which proved that apathy could be overcome, irritability suppressed. Man can preserve a vestige of spiritual freedom, of independence of mind, even in such terrible conditions of psychic and physical stress.

We who lived in concentration camps can remember the men who walked through the huts comforting others, giving away their last piece of bread. They may have been few in number, but they offer sufficient proof that 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, to choose one's own way."

“the sort of person the prisoner became was the result of an inner decision, and not the result of camp influences alone. Fundamentally, therefore, any man can, even under such circumstances, decide what shall become of him - mentally and spiritually. He may retain his human dignity even in a concentration camp. Dostoevski said once, "There is only one thing that I dread: not to be worthy of my sufferings”

“Without suffering and death human life cannot be complete.”

“man's inner strength may raise him above his outward fate”

The Midnight Tides, Malazan Series Review

Okay, so an epic fantasy review after a long time.

Malazan Book of the Fallen is truly an epic fantasy series, grander in scheme than even LOTR & very elaborate in description.

Here is a review of The Midnight Tides

This book could have been a non-fiction book, if you removed the names, the God involvements & the rebirth (several times) of Rhulad Sengar.

This is a story of debt, interest & greed. Reading this, I was thinking isn't this what is happening in the world today. Isn't that what caused the major financial collapse in the US & Europe? Isn't this, why the banks are minting money, literally.

The story delves deep into the culture of Letheras, a city of Gold (figuratively) where everything is rationalised in the name of money & lending. Where the supreme rulers are, not the ruling family, but the money lenders. Even the throne has a huge debt.

Conquest, slaughter, slavery & exploitation is all legitimised & practiced systematically in the name of progress.

& finally, how this very greed would have lead to the downfall of the entire kingdom. (were it not conquered by the Tiste Edur before the collapse.)

One of the facts mentioned in there, once one enters this cycle of debt, it is almost impossible to break out.

How true in this realm of the humans, too.

Review of The Prophet, Kahil Gibran

I am reading The Prophet by Kahil Gibran right now on the recommendation of Kruti.

I usually do not write reviews or talk about books until I have completed reading them, but this book is a book of teachings. A must-read-&-understand.

It may take me a couple of days to complete it, in the meanwhile you should read it!

Shree Amar Bharti : September 1997 issue : A review

संतोषामृततृप्तानाम।

This is the essence of the September 1997 issue of Shree Amar Bharti. Imo

@Kruti, संतोषामृततृप्तानाम is a conjunction of 3 words, संतोष, अमृत, तृप्ति, a sanskrit word, actually a sentence said in a single word, संतोष रूपी अमृत तृप्त करती है।
संतोष = be happy with what you have
अमृत = nectar
तृप्ति = fulfilment

What it really means is, (IMHO) no matter how much worldly possession (money, land, investments, laptops, phones, gadgets, cars etc.) you have if you will experience fulfilment only when you are happy/satisfied with what you have. If you keep on wanting more & more, no matter how much you have, you will never experience fulfilment.

Buy books for a girl instead of a drink

So I what woke up & here is what Kruti sent me.

You know how people buy drinks for girls in bars? Why can't people do that in bookstores? Like if I am looking at a novel in Barnes & Noble and some person walks up to me and strikes up a conversation and offers to buy the book for me there is a lot better chance of that working out in their favor.

Interesting thought, nai?

Buy books for a girl instead of a drink

So I what woke up & here is what Kruti sent me.

You know how people buy drinks for girls in bars? Why can't people do that in bookstores? Like if I am looking at a novel in Barnes & Noble and some person walks up to me and strikes up a conversation and offers to buy the book for me there is a lot better chance of that working out in their favor.

Interesting thought, nai?

Book review : Tuesdays with Morrie

I would like to thank Bulbul Tunkalia & Kruti Munot for suggesting this wonderful heart-touching story to me.

'Love each other or perish.' - Professor Morrie

This story is not just about a teacher, Professor Morrie, or the author (& student), Mitch, neither just about life, but about loving & living. (I mistyped living as loving, only to realise it is correct too)

It is a beautiful story about what a dying man can teach the living, healthy ones about truly living. It is a story of love, compassion, heart-wrenching suffering, but most importantly living & embracing the present.

Professor Morrie reminds me of Mehra Uncle & my Nanasa, two vividly different & wise people who live on in me through their teachings.

The story also reminds me of Mrs. Rita Arora & Kanhaiya Lal ji Lodha, two great teachers who are both ill right now. :-(

Professor Morrie talks about 2 very important things, embracing life & loving people.

'Death can end life, not relationships.' -Professor Morrie

When you think about someone, when you think what they taught you, of the happy times you spent together, that person is listening, somewhere, somehow he or she is listening, and smiling. :-)

It is a wonderful story that brings you closer to your family & loved ones, that tells you there is only so much time we all have in Life, spend it lovingly with your loved ones, with people you love & people who live you.

I cannot put it better than Professor Morrie right now, so go ahead & read the book.

Tuesdays with Morrie by Mitch Albom

Edit : Listen!

Listen to your loved ones, talk to them, while you can. Saying good words about them when they are no more is not as good as saying the same good words (in present tense rather than past tense) to them in person.

Book review : Pale Blue Dot by Carl Sagan

Pale Blue Dot, again a book recommended by Kruti Munot, my little sister.

It is a must read for religious fanatics, selfish people & excessively egoistic people.

The book, in a scientific manner, starts with a hypothesis, goes on to theoretical proofs & ends with a hence proved. (not literally though)

It tells you how minuscule you are, how this planet is a tiny speck of sand, how we, the mighty intelligent Human Civilization know next to nothing about this infinitely large mega Universe.

Reminds me of so many things that I thought of as a child, glad to know it is shared by accomplished scientists. (not that it matters in the context of the Universe though.)

Book review : Siddhartha

Siddharth (book by Hermann Hesse ISBN : 978-81-7234-368-2) is not a story of fiction, it is a story, compiled in parts, of different truths in different parts.

It is not about Gautam Buddha, as the name initially gave an indication to me, but about a different path to the same state. As a learner in the realm of science, I can appreciate this story in a very different manner. Which reminds me of Prof. Suchitra Mathur's class on 'Criticism & Appreciation of Literature' where I think I imbibed a very important lesson, no review is ever right or wrong, for every review is unique & thus in itself complete. The review reflects the understanding of the text by the critic, not the book itself. I have only begun to understand Siddhartha & hence my review may not reflect the book, but it is not supposed to, either.

What I have said above would make more sense if you have ever gone through interactive literature. Where, you can input a name & the character takes up that name, & you can make the choices for the character & the story changes as the different 'names' make different choices. This book is about one such character name, called Siddhartha. This is not a usual story of spirituality, not your regular, go into the woods or to the Himalayas, meditate, recite holy chants, bathe in the Ganga, 'wash' your sins & achieve Nirvana, it is quite the contrary. (personal note : I do not think it makes a wee bit of difference to achieving Nirvana, but I will keep to myself for another post or a discussion in person)

This is a book of lust, passion, friendship, worldly belongings & most importantly, the flight from them. It does not begin as such, but is such, nonetheless. It begins as most stories begin, in an isolated village, among the Brahmans, the well of knowledge (& arrogance), the search for spirituality, the distractions & finally the self-revelation.

To some parts of the story, I feel so empathic that I had almost replaced reading Siddhartha with Sambhav, so diverse is the text.

Surprisingly, I just realised, this story is not at all about religion, but talks about atheism, rather neo-atheism aka atheism 2.0 that I had talked about in a earlier post, (will update the link when I find it) which is spiritual atheism. Siddhartha as a character emphasises the need to not follow a pre-defined path so that you can find a new path. A new path to the same final state, Nirvana. Oh, but the story's 'plot' has its roots in Hinduism/Buddhism & is easier to understand if you have a glimpse into either religion. 

Siddhartha, as a character emphasises that it's not just the end that is important, but also the means of how have you reached it, though he does not preach a path or say one is better than the another, but quite the contrary, everyone must find his or her own path. You can be guided in the direction, but achieve long-lasting peace, Nirvan, you must follow your own path. It is the very experience of the path that makes the peace long-lasting, perhaps.

There is still much that I have not covered in the review. I may come back & edit the  review as understanding dawns.

As usual, the book was recommended by Kruti Munot.

Edit : The boom has been so beautifully  written & translated that while reading it, you do not even realise that the book has even translated from German language!

Why do people who love reading love it so much?

This image answers the question really well.

Here is another image that I came across which tells you, Why people who love reading love it so much?

 

Book review : Jonathan Livingston Seagull, Richard Bach

Ok, so this book was recommended to me by my Uncle.
I just read Jonathan Livingston Gull yesterday & I am in awe of this amazing book. There are many books on philosophy, believe-in-yourself, set-yourself apart. But this one was different for me. This book (at least the Part 1) just strikes a chord. & the metaphors are so apt. 

I still feel like flying. The story is about a discoverer, later an outcast, further a student, then a teacher & finally the story of renaissance. Not among the humans, but among the seagulls.

The story gave me a third person (& first-hand) perspective of an outlier. Not someone who has achieved the ultimate peak of the society but someone who has broken away from the society & gone on to achieve the peak of himself.

The story is about this red dot

& it resonates with me.

Even if you are not the outlier in your society, this book is a must-read for a fresh perspective, for the open-minded approach.

Oh, & here is the interesting part, the book is written in parts. It's a small book, yet is written as parts, very important, each one of them.

When I had gone through the first part, I thought the story was complete, although it felt tragic, for the loss of the other gulls, but that is the most beautiful thing about this book, the story does not end at your first peak, it goes on. There is so much more that I want to write but alas it will spoil the fun for the first-time reader.

Go ahead & read it, it is worth it. 

P.S. : You can purchase Jonathan Livingston Gull by Richard Bach at Amazon. The link is my first referral link.