In my mind I took bus rides, unlocked the front door of my
apartment, answered my telephone, switched on the
electric lights. Our thoughts often centered on such
details, and these memories could move one to tears.(61)
It is well known that an enforced community life, in
which attention is paid to everything one does at all
times, may result in an irresistible urge to get away, at
least for a short while. (73)
(The consciousness of one's inner value is
anchored in higher, more spiritual things, and cannot
be shaken by camp life. But how many free men, let
alone prisoners, possess it? (85)
Even though conditions such
as lack of sleep, insufficient food and various mental
stresses may suggest that the inmates were bound to
react in certain ways, in the final analysis it becomes
clear that the sort of person the prisoner became was
the result of an inner decision, and not the result of
camp influences alone. (89)
Now - he wrote - fate was offering
him a similar chance. (91)
We had to learn ourselves
and, furthermore, we had to teach the despairing men,
that it did not really matter what we expected from life,
but rather what life expected from us. We needed to
stop asking about the meaning of life, and instead to
think of ourselves as those who were being questioned
by life - daily and hourly. (100)
They became instigators, not objects, of
willful force and injustice. They justified their behavior
by their own terrible experiences. (114)
To put the question in general terms
would be comparable to the question posed to a chess
champion: "Tell me, Master, what is the best move in
the world?" There simply is no such thing as the best
or even a good move apart from a particular situation
in a game and the particular personality of one's
opponent. (133)
To suffer unnecessarily is maso-
chistic rather than heroic. (138)
At any moment, man must decide, for better or for
worse, what will be the monument of his existence.
In fact, freedom is in danger of degenerating into mere arbitrari-
ness unless it is lived in terms of responsible Ness. (158)
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