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Sigmund Freud

Sigmund Freud Quotes

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Famous Sigmund Freud Quotes

“Towards the outside, at any rate, the ego seems to maintain clear and sharp lines of demarcation. There is only one state -- admittedly an unusual state, but not one that can be stigmatized as pathological -- in which it does not do this. At the height of being in love the boundary between ego and object threatens to melt away. Against all the evidence of his senses, a man who is in love declares that "I" and "you" are one, and is prepared to behave as if it were a fact.”

IfsMenLoveDoeStatesFactsSeemsLinesClearObjectsEgoEvidencePreparedRateSensesBoundariesHeightBehaveUnusualBeing In Love
Book:The standard edition of the complete psychological works of Sigmund Freud
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“Homosexuality is assuredly no advantage, but it is nothing to be ashamed of, no vice, no degradation; it cannot be classified as an illness; we consider it to be a variation of the sexual function, produced by a certain arrest of sexual development. Many highly respectable individuals of ancient and modern times have been homosexuals, several of the greatest men among them (Plato, Michelangelo, Leonardo da Vinci, etc.). It is a great injustice to persecute homosexuality as a crime--and a cruelty, too. If you do not believe me, read the books of Havelock Ellis.”

IfsMenBelieveHas BeensBookCertainIndividualModernCrimeDevelopmentAdvantageFunctionInjusticeAncientIllnessVicesCrueltyAshamedEtcBelieve In MeHomosexualityHomosexualPlatoVariationRespectableDegradationModern TimesLeonardoGreatest Man
Author:Sigmund Freud
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“The assumption that everything past is preserved holds good even in mental life only on condition that the organ of the mind has remained intact and that its tissues have not been damaged by trauma or inflammation. But destructive influences which can be compared to causes of illness like these are never lacking in the history of a city, even if it has had a less chequered past than Rome, and even if, like London, it has hardly ever suffered from the visitations of an enemy.”

IfsMindPastCausesCitiesEnemyInfluenceConditionsIllnessTraumaLondonAssumptionDestructiveRomeOrgansLackingTissuesVisitation
Book:The standard edition of the complete psychological works of Sigmund Freud
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“It is no wonder if, under the pressure of these possibilities of suffering, men are accustomed to moderate their claims to happiness - just as the pleasure principle itself, indeed, under the influence of the external world, changed into the more modest reality principle -, if a man thinks himself happy merely to have escaped unhappiness or to have survived his suffering, and if in general the task of avoiding suffering pushes that of obtaining pleasure into the background.”

IfsThinkingMenWorldRealitySufferingPleasureWonderPrinciplesInfluencePossibilityChangedTasksClaimsPressureBackgroundsUnhappinessModestSurvivedAvoidingAccustomedModeratesObtaining
Author:Sigmund Freud
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“The ego is first and foremost a bodily ego; it is not merely a surface entity, but is itself the projection of a surface. If we wish to find an anatomical analogy for it we can best identify it with the 'cortical homunculus' of the anatomists, which stands on its head in the cortex, sticks up its heels, faces”

IfsFirstsFacesWishEgoSticksSurfaceHeelsEntityProjectionAnalogies
Book:The standard edition of the complete psychological works of Sigmund Freud
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“It must be pointed out, however, that strictly speaking it is incorrect to talk of the dominance of the pleasure principle over the course of mental processes. If such a dominance existed, the immense majority of our mental processes would have to be accompanied by pleasure or to lead to pleasure, whereas universal experience completely contradicts any such conclusion.”

IfsCoursesProcessPleasurePrinciplesUniversalMajorityConclusionImmenseDominance
Book:Beyond the Pleasure Principle
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“What is a totem? It is as a rule an animal (whether edible and harmless or dangerous and feared) and more rarely a plant or a natural phenomenon (such as rain or water), which stands in a peculiar relation to the whole clan. In the first place, the totem is the common ancestor of the clan; at the same time it is their guardian spirit and helper, which sends them oracles and, if dangerous to others, recognizes and spares its own children.”

IfsFirstsChildrenWholeSpiritWaterNaturalAnimalCommonDangerousRainRelationPlantPhenomenonPeculiarAncestorSparesGuardianClansHelpersOraclesTotemsNatural Phenomena
Book:Totem and Taboo
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“If all the evidence put forward for the authenticity of religious teachings originates in the past, it is natural to look round and see whether the present, about which it is easier to form judgements, may not also be able to furnish evidence of the sort. If by this means we could succeed in clearing even a single portion of the religious system from doubt, the whole of it would gain enormously in credibility.”

IfsLooksMayMeanWholeAblePastFormNaturalReligiousDoubtTeachingEasierSucceedEvidenceGainsRoundsAuthenticityJudgementPortionsCredibilityClearing
Book:The standard edition of the complete psychological works of Sigmund Freud
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“In every age immorality has found no less support in religion than morality has. If the achievements of religion in respect to man's happiness, susceptibility to culture and moral control are no better than this, the question cannot but arise whether we are not overrating its necessity for mankind, and whether we do wisely in basing our cultural demands upon it.”

IfsMenAgeCultureFoundMoralSupportMankindMoralityDemandAchievementAriseImmoralitySusceptibility
Book:The standard edition of the complete psychological works of Sigmund Freud
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“Experience teaches that for most people there is a limit beyond which their constitution cannot comply with the demands of civilization. All who wish to reach a higher standard than their constitution will allow, fall victims to neurosis. It would have been better for them if they could have remained less "perfect".”

PeopleIfsHas BeensFallWishPerfectTeachHigherCivilizationDemandLimitsStandardsConstitutionVictimNeurosisHigher Standards
Book:Sexuality and The Psychology of Love
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“It would be very nice if there were a God who created the world and was a benevolent providence, and if there were a moral order in the universe and an after-life; but it is a very striking fact that all this is exactly as we are bound to wish it to be.”

IfsWorldFactsWould BeOrderUniverseWishMoralNiceIllusionBoundsAtheistProvidenceVery NiceBenevolentOrder In The Universe
Book:The standard edition of the complete psychological works of Sigmund Freud
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“Human beings are funny. They long to be with the person they love but refuse to admit openly. Some are afraid to show even the slightest sign of affection because of fear. Fear that their feelings may not be recognized, or even worst, returned. But one thing about human beings puzzles me the most is their conscious effort to be connected with the object of their affection even if it kills them slowly within.”

IfsHumansMayPersonsLongShowsFeelingsHuman BeingsEffortOne ThingWorstObjectsConsciousAffectionRefuseConnectedPuzzles
Author:Sigmund Freud
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“We find a place for what we lose. Although we know that after such a loss the acute stage of mourning will subside, we also know that we shall remain inconsolable and will never find a substitute. No matter what may fill the gap, even if it be filled completely, it nevertheless remains something else.”

IfsKnowsMayMatterChangeLosesLossGriefStageNo Matter WhatRemainsFilledGrievingMourningGapsSubstitutesNeverthelessGriefingGrief And MourningMourning LossMourning A Loss
Author:Sigmund Freud
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“The adoption of the required attitude of mind towards ideas that seem to emerge "of their own free will" and the abandonment of the critical function that is normally in operation against them seem to be hard of achievement for some people. The "involuntary thoughts" are liable to release a most violent resistance, which seeks to prevent their emergence. If we may trust that great poet and philosopher Friedrich Schiller, however, poetic creation must demand an exactly similar attitude.”

PeopleIfsMindMayIdeasHardSeemsAttitudeCreationPoetDemandAchievementFunctionPhilosopherCriticalViolentResistanceCraftsReleaseOperationsFree WillPoeticAdoptionAbandonmentLiableEmergenceGreat PoetInvoluntary
Book:The standard edition of the complete psychological works of Sigmund Freud
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“If one wishes to form a true estimate of the full grandeur of religion, one must keep in mind what it undertakes to do for men. It gives them information about the source and origin of the universe, it assures them of protection and final happiness, and it guides - by - precepts - backed by the full force of its authority.”

IfsMenGivingMindFormReligionUniverseForceWishInformationSourceAuthorityFinalsProtectionGuidesGrandeur
Book:Major Works
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“Religion is an attempt to get control over the sensory world, in which we are placed, by means of the wish-world, which we have developed inside us as a result of biological and psychological necessities... If one attempts to assign to religion its place in man's evolution, it seems not so much to be a lasting acquisition, as a parallel to the neurosis which the civilized individual must pass through on his way from childhood to maturity.”

IfsMenWorldWayMeanSeemsIndividualWishResultsChildhoodEvolutionPsychologicalMaturityLastingCivilizedParallelsAcquisitionNeurosisSensory
Author:Sigmund Freud
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“Against the suffering which may come upon one from human relationships the readiest safeguard is voluntary isolation, keeping oneself aloof from other people. The happiness which can be achieved along this path is, as we see, the happiness of quietness. Against the dreaded external world one can only defend oneself by some kind of turning away from it, if one intends to solve the task by oneself.”

PeopleIfsWorldHumansKindMaySufferingPathSolitudeTasksOneselfSolveIsolationHuman RelationsHuman RelationshipsQuietnessAloof
Book:Civilization and Its Discontents
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“It would be one of the greatest triumphs of humanity, one of the most tangible liberations from the constraints of nature to which mankind is subject, if we could succeed in raising the responsible act of procreating children to the level of a deliberate and intentional activity and in freeing it from its entanglement with the necessary satisfaction of a natural need.”

IfsNeedsChildrenWould BeHumanityNatureNaturalLevelsSubjectsMankindActivitySucceedResponsibleIntentionSatisfactionLiberationTriumphDeliberateConstraintsTangibleProcreationEntanglement
Book:The Standard Edition of the Complete Psychological Works of Sigmund Freud: Early psycho-analytic publications
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“There is an intellectual function in us which demands unity, connection and intelligibility from any material, whether of perception or thought, that comes within its grasp; and if, as a result of special circumstances, it is unable to establish a true connection, it does not hesitate to fabricate a false one.”

IfsDoeResultsSpecialMaterialsCircumstancesDemandPerceptionIntellectualConnectionsFunctionUnityFabricate
Book:Totem and Taboo: Some Points of Agreement Between the Mental Lives of Savages and Neurotics
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“A lady once expressed herself in society - the very words show that they were uttered with fervour and under the pressure of a great many secret emotions: "Yes, a woman must be pretty if she is to please the men. A man is much better off. As long as he has five straight limbs, he needs no more!"”

IfsMenNeedsLongShowsSexSecretEmotionFiveHe ManPleasePressureGreat MenBetter OffLimbs
Book:The Collected Works of Sigmund Freud: Psychoanalytic Studies, Theoretical Essays & Articles: The Interpretation of Dreams, Psychopathology of Everyday Life, Dream Psychology, Three Contributions to the Theory of Sex, The History of the Psychoanalytic Movement, Leonardo da Vinci…
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