A highly anticipated, rediscovered collection from Viktor Frankl, published for the first time in the United States, exploring freedom, responsibility, and how we can draw meaning from the temporary nature of our lives
From the bestselling author of Man’s Search for Meaning, which has sold over 16 million copies
The Library of Congress lists Man’s Search for Meaning as one of the 10 most influential books in history. Scientists and artists, politicians and celebrities regularly cite Frankl as one of the most important authors every person should read. Now, there is another book for his devoted fans to add to their collections.
Published here for the first time in the United States, Embracing Hope continues Frankl’s enduring life’s work and provides even more lessons for those searching for meaning and purpose. It’s made up of 4 distinct pieces from Frankl on different themes—all uniting around the idea that we should remain open to life even when we have been subjected to appalling injustice, and even when we are faced with our own mortality and the brief nature of our lives. At a time of global suffering where so many are searching for hope and meaning, Frankl’s work seems more relevant and more important than ever.
Whether you’re a devoted follower of Frankl’s work or a newcomer seeking to enrich your understanding of life’s purpose, this book promises a captivating journey that will leave you pondering its teachings long after you’ve turned the final page.
Just imagine what would happen, what life would look like, if there were no death. Imagine what it would be like if you could postpone anything and everything, if you could put it off for eternity. You wouldn’t have to do anything today or tomorrow. Everything could just as easily be done next week, next month, next year, in a decade, in 100 or 1,000 years. Only in the face of death, only under pressure from the finiteness, the temporal limitation of human existence, is there any point in going about our business, and not only in going about our business, but in experiencing life, and not only in experiencing life but also in loving someone, and even in enduring and surviving something that is inflicted on us.
“Decades-old writing that remains timely . . . Comforting and necessary.”
—Kirkus Reviews
“The message is moving and his lyrical prose will stick in readers’ minds. It’s an inspiring introduction to Frankl’s thinking.”
—Publishers Weekly
“For those unfamiliar with his work, Embracing Hope offers a brief but compelling collection of two lectures, an interview, and an article that capture the central premises and concerns of his work. . . . Like all good thinkers, he makes his readers think and challenges them to provide better answers to the questions he sees our world asking.”
—World
Foreword by Alexander Vesely-Frankl
Introduction by Dr. Tobias Esch
Note from the Publisher
ONE
Meaning and Responsibility in the Face of Transience
Conquering Transience
TWO
Ways of Finding Meaning
Man Alive—Viktor Frankl
THREE
The Crisis of Meaning and the Zeitgeist
Collective Neuroses
FOUR
Freedom and Responsibility
Existential Analysis and the Problems of Our Times
About Viktor E. Frankl
Further Works by Viktor E. Frankl
About the Viktor Frankl Institute