In spite of all the enforced physical and mental primitiveness of life in a concentration camp, it was possible for spiritual life to deepen. Sensitive people who were used to a rich intellectual life may have suffered much pain, but the damage to their inner selves was less. They were able to retreat from their terrible surroundings to a life of inner riches and spiritual freedom.

"The truth — that love is the ultimate and the highest goal to which man can aspire." | "The salvation of man is through love and in love." | Dostoevski: "Yes, a man can get used to anything — but do not ask us how."

"Set me like a seal upon thy heart, love is as strong as death." | Nietzsche: "That which does not kill me, makes me stronger." | Life is not primarily a quest for pleasure (Freud), or power (Adler), but a quest for meaning. They died less from lack of food or medicine, than from lack of hope, lack of something to live for.

The greatest task for any person is to find meaning in his life. Three possible sources: In Work · In Love · In Courage during difficult times. Suffering in and of itself is meaningless. "A person may remain brave, dignified and unselfish." The meaning of life — to life he can only respond by being responsible. Logotherapy sees in responsibleness the very essence of human existence.

"We needed to stop asking about the meaning of life, and instead to think of ourselves as those who were being questioned by life — daily and hourly. Our answer must consist, not in talk and meditation, but in right action, and in right conduct."

"But there was no need to be ashamed of tears — for tears bore witness that a man had the greatest of courage, the courage to suffer." | "He knows the 'why' for his existence, and will be able to bear almost any 'how.'"

The inmate who had lost faith in the future — his future was doomed. With his loss of belief in the future, he also lost his spiritual hold; he let himself decline and became subject to mental and physical decay.

The connection between the state of mind of a man — his courage and hope, or lack of them — and the state of immunity of his body: the sudden loss of hope and courage can have a deadly effect.

The cue to cure is self-transcendence. His suffering is considered noble — with the capacity to turn their predicaments into human achievements; one has found meaning in suffering. "I know that without the suffering, the growth that I have achieved would have been impossible."

Realities in the past — the potentialities they have actualized, the meanings they have fulfilled, the values they have realized — and nothing and nobody can ever remove these assets from the past. To be independent and inventive, innovative and a creative spirit, combined with the will to live, his instinct for self-preservation and a steely resolve not to give up.

Reconciliation rather than Revenge. Psychiatry heals the soul, leaving religion to the salvation of the soul. He had given up faith in his strength to carry on, and, once lost, the will to live seldom returned. If the mind loses the will to live, the body will soon fall.

"I understood how a man who has nothing left in this world still may know bliss, in the contemplation of his beloved." Their suffering was a genuine inner achievement. It is this spiritual freedom — which cannot be taken away — that makes life meaningful and purposeful.

The connection between the state of mind of a man, his lack of courage and hope — and the state of immunity of his body: the sudden loss of hope and courage can have a deadly effect. The inmate who had lost faith in the future — his future was doomed. With his loss of belief in the future, he also lost his spiritual hold.