Viktor Frankl's Story + Picture Book Suggestions

some thoughts about meaning + three books for your library wishlist

Hello! This week we’ll be sharing some of the best quotes from Part I of the 1946 bestseller Man’s Search for Meaning, in which Viktor Frankl shares his own story as a Holocaust survivor and how he evaluated that experience as a psychiatrist. It’s heavy but really good stuff to think about! Even if you aren’t reading along, I think these quotes will be encouraging to you. And there are three sweet book suggestions at the bottom!

Man’s Search for Meaning Quotes & Questions, Part I

The first section of the book is all about his story, so that’s where we’re pulling quotes from today!

• “We really had nothing now except our bare bodies—even minus hair; all we possessed, literally, was our naked existence. What else remained for us as a material link with our former lives?”
  When Frankl and the men around him were stripped of all their belongings and even their own body hair, they had to completely give up on every material thing they had before. Put yourself in their shoes. Who are you without everything you have?

• “Then I grasped the meaning of the greatest secret that human poetry and human thought and belief have to impart: The salvation of man is through love and in love. I understood how a man who has nothing left in this world still may know bliss, be it only for a brief moment, in the contemplation of his beloved.”
  This is one of the most beautiful parts of the book: the thought of his wife changed the entire situation for him. Who in your life do you love and appreciate so much that merely thinking of them could bring you bliss in awful circumstances? Tell them so! 😊

• “The last of the human freedoms—to choose one’s attitude in any given set of circumstances, to choose one’s own way.”
  How differently would we face painful constraints if we felt the freedom to at least choose how we respond? Is there a situation in your life or in your past where you’ve seen this to be true?

Picture Book Suggestions

Waiting by Kevin Henkes is a gentle story with sweet illustrations (the muted colors 🤩) and a wonderful surprise at the end. It’s a good time to talk to kids about seasons in weather and in life, and to ask them what they’re waiting for. Encourage them that having good company makes the wait not so bad ❤️

The Barnabus Project by The Fan Brothers has such rich illustrations and cold tones that you can really feel the sadness—and hope—of rejected creations who find freedom and belonging. It’s so lovely. (And Barnabus is so cute I could cry 🥹)

Stand Straight, Ella Kate by Kate and Sarah Klise tells the true story of a woman who was considered the largest female of her time. Your heart breaks as you read about what it must’ve been like to be so abnormally tall, but Ella’s positivity and courage remind us that hard is not the same as bad. She found ways to use her uniqueness not only to her own advantage but to be a blessing to others.

I hope this email encouraged you!

Warmly,

Hope from Family Scripts

P.S. Sharing this quote again because I need to remember it often ❤️