As per Viktor Frankl Institute, this quote is from a book titled “Prisoners of our Thoughts” and the quote was mentioned by Stephen R. Covey in the Foreword. “I did not note the name of the author, so I’ve never been able to give proper attribution,” he wrote.
“We are often asked for the origin of the following quote, which is ascribed to Viktor Frankl:
Between stimulus and response lies a space. In that space lie our freedom and power to choose a response. In our response lies our growth and our happiness.
The true origin of the quotation is somewhat involved. To put it shortly, the author Stephen R. Covey used to recount that he found the quote in a library book and thought it fitting to describe Frankl’s views – but he did not note down the book’s author and title,” the institute has mentioned on its website.
So the quote may not belong to Frankl word for word. But the question it raises remains deeply relevant to everyday mental health.
