Irvin Yalom, existential psychotherapist, on the most important aspects of the human condition

The four “givens” of existence which I have found of most practical relevance in my [Yalom's] work as an existential psychotherapist are as follows: the inevitability of death for each of us and for those we love; the freedom to make our lives as we will; our ultimate aloneness; and finally, the absence of any obvious meaning or sense to life. 

Irvin Yalom, Love's Executioner