Saturday, January 20, 2007

Dreaming and Living

A study was once carried out of concentration camp survivors in order to ascertain the common characteristics of those who did not succumb to disease and starvation. One survivor wrote extensively about what kept him going.

Victor Frankl was a Viennese psychiatrist before he was put into a concentration camp by the Nazi regime. Upon his release he said in a speech, “Why am I here today? What kept me alive was you. Others gave up hope. I dreamed. I dreamed that somehow I would be here, telling you how I, Victor Frankl, had survived the Nazi concentration camps. I’ve never been here before. I’ve never seen any of you before. But in my dreams I have stood before you and said these words a thousand times.”

Geoff Pound

Source: Victor Frankl, Man's Search for Meaning.

Image: Victor Frankl