One practical piece of advice given to new inmates had to do with keeping up personal appearances, however wretched the conditions. One prisoner specifically mentions that shaving every day (even with a shard of glass) was necessary because the ruddiness of a countenance would signal health, and the appearance of health was necessary to be chosen for work instead of for the gas chambers.

Frankl offers his own advice to the hut later in the book: maintain hope in the face of despair. Those who are still alive have reason for hope. Further, "Health, family, happiness, professional abilities, fortune, position in society—all these were things that could be achieved again or restored" (66).

Ultimately, Frankl tells his companions that suffering itself has meaning. At the end of his words of solace, his fellow inmates come to him with tears in their eyes and words of thanks on their lips.