“He who has a Why to live for can bear almost any How”

“He who has a Why to live for can bear almost any How” expresses the connection between meaning and endurance: a reason to live can make even severe circumstances bearable. In the book, the saying appears through the account of Viktor E. Frankl, who concurred with Nietzsche and understood the search for meaning as a fundamental human drive.

Meaning and Attribution

Frankl, a Viennese psychoanalyst and author of Man’s Search for Meaning, survived both Auschwitz and Dachau. He held that the crucial human drive is meaning, in contrast to Sigmund Freud’s emphasis on pleasure and Alfred Adler’s emphasis on power. The saying condenses that position into a compact relation: a sustaining purpose does not erase hardship, but can help a person endure it.

The words are attributed to Nietzsche, with whom Frankl concurred. Their appearance in the discussion of Frankl’s ideas connects the statement to his account of meaning without presenting it as his own original formulation.

Role in the Account

Several therapists involved in the New York University research directed the author to Frankl’s writing. The saying therefore serves as a concise point of connection between the therapists’ reading recommendations and the book’s discussion of meaning as a human concern. Its force lies in the contrast built into its phrasing: the circumstances may remain difficult, while the reason for facing them changes how they can be borne.