The Last of the Human Freedoms

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December 31, 2012

a project of ServiceSpace

There are all different kinds of freedom, and the kind that is most precious you will not hear much talk about in the great outside world of wanting and achieving. The really important kind of freedom involves attention and awareness and discipline, and being able truly to care about other people.

- David Foster Wallace -

The Last of the Human Freedoms

"True freedom lies in choice -- this is one of the core insights in the writings of Viktor Frankl, a pyschiatrist who was imprisoned in a Nazi concentration camp. In the best-selling book, Man's Search for Meaning, Frankl described his profound experiences: 'We who lived in concentration camps can remember the men who walked through the huts comforting others, giving away their last piece of bread. They may have been few in number, but they offer sufficient proof that everything can be taken from a man but one thing: the last of the human freedoms -- to choose one's attitude in any given set of circumstances, to choose one's own way.' In any challenging circumstance, Frankl's testimonial gives a starting point: in order to have the freedom to choose, we first need to be aware that we even have a choice." { read more }