For the world is in a bad state, but everything will become still worse unless each of us does his best.

Suffering presents us with a challenge: to find our goals and purpose in our lives that make even the worst situation worth living through.

I had wanted simply to convey to the reader by way of concrete example that life holds a potential meaning under any conditions, even the most miserable ones. And I thought that if the point were demonstrated in a situation as extreme as that in a concentration camp, my book might gain a hearing. I therefore felt responsible for writing down what I had gone through, for I thought it might be helpful to people who are prone to despair.

I do the unpleasant tasks before I do the pleasant ones.

The transitoriness of our existence in now way makes it meaningless. But it does constitute our responsibleness; for everything hinges upon our realizing the essentially transitory possibilities.

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.

When a man cannot find meaning, he numbs himself with pleasure.