Irvin D. Yalom, the renowned Professor Emeritus of Psychiatry at Stanford University and author of many books has written:

"There are 4 givens particularly relevant to psychotherapy:
1. the inevitability of death for each of us and for those we love
2. the freedom to make our lives as we will
3. our ultimate aloneness
4. the absence of any obvious meaning or sense to life

"However grim these may seem, they contain the seeds of wisdom and redemption. ...it is possible to confront the truths of existence and harness their power in the service of personal change and growth."

From "Love's Executioner" Page 5