
“If there is meaning in life at all, then there must be meaning in suffering.”
Source: Man's Search for Meaning (1946; 1959; 1984), p. 67 in the 1959 Beacon Press edition
“If there is meaning in life at all, then there must be meaning in suffering.”
Man's Search for Meaning (1946; 1959; 1984)
Context: The way in which a man accepts his fate and all the suffering it entails, the way in which he takes up his cross, gives him ample opportunity — even under the most difficult circumstances — to add a deeper meaning to his life. It may remain brave, dignified and unselfish. Or in the bitter fight for self-preservation he may forget his human dignity and become no more than an animal. Here lies the chance for a man either to make use of or to forgo the opportunities of attaining the moral values that a difficult situation may afford him. And this decides whether he is worthy of his sufferings or not.
“Knowledge by suffering entereth,
And life is perfected by death.”
A Vision of Poets (1844)
“To live a life of truth one has to suffer, but must suffer cheerfully”
Morarji Desai speaks about life and celibacy
On whether he is an exception when compared to formerly incarcerated individuals in “'Felon' Author Says, 'Everybody Has To Tell Their Kids Something'” https://www.npr.org/2019/11/03/775605155/felon-author-says-everybody-has-to-tell-their-kids-something in NPR (2019 Nov 3)