Authors: A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z

99 Most Engrossing Sigmund Freud Quotes

Famous As: Neurologist & the Founder of Psychoanalysis
Born On: May 6, 1856
Died On: September 23, 1939
Born In: Příbor, Czechia
Died At Age: 83

Sigismund Schlomo Freud, popularly known as Sigmund Freud, was an Austrian neurologist who lived from 1856 to 1939. He is famous as the father of psychoanalysis. Freud studied medicine at the University of Vienna and later on became a practicing neurologist within Vienna. However, it was not as a neurologist that Freud became globally renowned. He gained recognition as the founder of psychoanalysis, a treatment for mental or emotional problems through talks between the therapist and patient. Freud was responsible for some of the path-breaking theories in psychology like ‘Ego’, ‘Alter Ego’ and also introduced the concept of ‘Oedipus Complex’. Most of what is studied in the field of psychology owes a lot to the findings of Freud and the books that he had written are still considered among the best to have ever been written on the subject. Freud wrote number of books throughout a career that spanned several decades and his most famous work remains ‘The Interpretation of Dreams’. His other famous works include ‘The Ego and the Id’, ‘Beyond the Pleasure Principle’, ‘Group Psychology’ and ‘The Analysis of the Ego and The Future of an Illusion’ among others. His books and writings covered number of subjects and viewpoints. His books, thoughts and writings still have a large readership. Here are some of Sigmund Freud’s most famous quotes which have been scanned through his vast sea of writings and books.

One day, in retrospect, the years of struggle will strike you as the most beautiful.

One day, in retrospect, the years of struggle will strike you as the most beautiful.

Sigmund Freud
Being entirely honest with oneself is a good exercise.

Being entirely honest with oneself is a good exercise.

Sigmund Freud
We are never so defenseless against suffering as when we love.

We are never so defenseless against suffering as when we love.

Sigmund Freud
Most people do not really want freedom, because freedom involves responsibility, and most people are frightened of responsibility.

Most people do not really want freedom, because freedom involves responsibility, and most people are frightened of responsibility.

Sigmund Freud
Unexpressed emotions will never die. They are buried alive and will come forth later in uglier ways.

Unexpressed emotions will never die. They are buried alive and will come forth later in uglier ways.

Sigmund Freud
Out of your vulnerabilities will come your strength.

Out of your vulnerabilities will come your strength.

Sigmund Freud
He that has eyes to see and ears to hear may convince himself that no mortal can keep a secret. If his lips are silent, he chatters with his fingertips; betrayal oozes out of him at every pore.

He that has eyes to see and ears to hear may convince himself that no mortal can keep a secret. If his lips are silent, he chatters with his fingertips; betrayal oozes out of him at every pore.

Sigmund Freud
Religious doctrines … are all illusions, they do not admit of proof, and no one can be compelled to consider them as true or to believe in them.

Religious doctrines … are all illusions, they do not admit of proof, and no one can be compelled to consider them as true or to believe in them.

Sigmund Freud
A woman should soften but not weaken a man.

A woman should soften but not weaken a man.

Sigmund Freud
Immorality, no less than morality, has at all times found support in religion.

Immorality, no less than morality, has at all times found support in religion.

Sigmund Freud
In the depths of my heart I can’t help being convinced that my dear fellow-men, with a few exceptions, are worthless.

In the depths of my heart I can’t help being convinced that my dear fellow-men, with a few exceptions, are worthless.

Sigmund Freud
Whoever loves becomes humble. Those who love have , so to speak , pawned a part of their narcissism.

Whoever loves becomes humble. Those who love have , so to speak , pawned a part of their narcissism.

Sigmund Freud
No, our science is no illusion. But an illusion it would be to suppose that what science cannot give us we can get elsewhere.

No, our science is no illusion. But an illusion it would be to suppose that what science cannot give us we can get elsewhere.

Sigmund Freud
Everywhere I go I find a poet has been there before me.

Everywhere I go I find a poet has been there before me.

Sigmund Freud
Where does a thought go when it's forgotten?

Where does a thought go when it's forgotten?

Sigmund Freud
The madman is a dreamer awake

The madman is a dreamer awake

Sigmund Freud
Religion is an illusion and it derives its strength from the fact that it falls in with our instinctual desires.

Religion is an illusion and it derives its strength from the fact that it falls in with our instinctual desires.

Sigmund Freud
Where the questions of religion are concerned people are guilty of every possible kind of insincerity and intellectual misdemeanor.

Where the questions of religion are concerned people are guilty of every possible kind of insincerity and intellectual misdemeanor.

Sigmund Freud
He does not believe that does not live according to his belief.

He does not believe that does not live according to his belief.

Sigmund Freud
The virtuous man contents himself with dreaming that which the wicked man does in actual life.

The virtuous man contents himself with dreaming that which the wicked man does in actual life.

Sigmund Freud
America is a mistake, a giant mistake.

America is a mistake, a giant mistake.

Sigmund Freud
It is that we are never so defenseless against suffering as when we love, never no helplessly unhappy as when we have lost our loved object of its love.

It is that we are never so defenseless against suffering as when we love, never no helplessly unhappy as when we have lost our loved object of its love.

Sigmund Freud
The behavior of a human being in sexual matters is often a prototype for the whole of his other modes of reaction in life.

The behavior of a human being in sexual matters is often a prototype for the whole of his other modes of reaction in life.

Sigmund Freud
Beauty has no obvious use; nor is there any clear cultural necessity for it. Yet civilization could not do without it.

Beauty has no obvious use; nor is there any clear cultural necessity for it. Yet civilization could not do without it.

Sigmund Freud
The intention that man should be happy is not in the plan of Creation.

The intention that man should be happy is not in the plan of Creation.

Sigmund Freud
Neurotics complain of their illness, but they make the most of it, and when it comes to taking it away from them they will defend it like a lioness her young.

Neurotics complain of their illness, but they make the most of it, and when it comes to taking it away from them they will defend it like a lioness her young.

Sigmund Freud
What progress we are making. In the Middle Ages they would have burned me. Now they are content with burning my books.

What progress we are making. In the Middle Ages they would have burned me. Now they are content with burning my books.

Sigmund Freud
Love and work are the cornerstones of our humanness.

Love and work are the cornerstones of our humanness.

Sigmund Freud
Loneliness and darkness have just robbed me of my valuables.

Loneliness and darkness have just robbed me of my valuables.

Sigmund Freud
Where id is, there shall ego be

Where id is, there shall ego be

Sigmund Freud
The more the fruits of knowledge become accessible to men, the more widespread is the decline of religious belief.

The more the fruits of knowledge become accessible to men, the more widespread is the decline of religious belief.

Sigmund Freud
Men are more moral than they think and far more immoral than they can imagine.

Men are more moral than they think and far more immoral than they can imagine.

Sigmund Freud
The creative writer does the same as the child at play; he creates a world of fantasy which he takes very seriously.

The creative writer does the same as the child at play; he creates a world of fantasy which he takes very seriously.

Sigmund Freud
A man should not strive to eliminate his complexes but to get into accord with them: they are legitimately what directs his conduct in the world.

A man should not strive to eliminate his complexes but to get into accord with them: they are legitimately what directs his conduct in the world.

Sigmund Freud
My love is something valuable to me which I ought not to throw away without reflection.

My love is something valuable to me which I ought not to throw away without reflection.

Sigmund Freud
Poets are masters of us ordinary men, in knowledge of the mind,
because they drink at streams which we have not yet made accessible to science.

Poets are masters of us ordinary men, in knowledge of the mind, because they drink at streams which we have not yet made accessible to science.

Sigmund Freud
Dreams are the royal road to the unconscious.

Dreams are the royal road to the unconscious.

Sigmund Freud
The ego is not master in its own house.

The ego is not master in its own house.

Sigmund Freud
A love that does not discriminate seems to me to forfeit a part of its own value, by doing an injustice to its object; and secondly, not all men are worthy of love.

A love that does not discriminate seems to me to forfeit a part of its own value, by doing an injustice to its object; and secondly, not all men are worthy of love.

Sigmund Freud
Men are strong so long as they represent a strong idea,they become powerless when they oppose it.

Men are strong so long as they represent a strong idea,they become powerless when they oppose it.

Sigmund Freud
I had thought about cocaine in a kind of day-dream.

I had thought about cocaine in a kind of day-dream.

Sigmund Freud
There are no mistakes

There are no mistakes

Sigmund Freud
Instinct of love toward an object demands a mastery to obtain it, and if a person feels they can't control the object or feel threatened by it, they act negatively toward it.

Instinct of love toward an object demands a mastery to obtain it, and if a person feels they can't control the object or feel threatened by it, they act negatively toward it.

Sigmund Freud
Public self is a conditioned construct of the inner psychological self.

Public self is a conditioned construct of the inner psychological self.

Sigmund Freud
Where questions of religion are concerned, people are guilty of every possible sort of dishonesty and intellectual misdemeanor.

Where questions of religion are concerned, people are guilty of every possible sort of dishonesty and intellectual misdemeanor.

Sigmund Freud
Love in the form of longing and deprivation lowers the self regard.

Love in the form of longing and deprivation lowers the self regard.

Sigmund Freud
You wanted to kill your father in order to be your father yourself. Now you are your father, but a dead father.

You wanted to kill your father in order to be your father yourself. Now you are your father, but a dead father.

Sigmund Freud
When a love-relationship is at its height there is no room left for any interest in the environment; a pair of lovers are sufficient to themselves

When a love-relationship is at its height there is no room left for any interest in the environment; a pair of lovers are sufficient to themselves

Sigmund Freud
No neurotic harbors thoughts of suicide which are not murderous impulses against others redirected upon himself.

No neurotic harbors thoughts of suicide which are not murderous impulses against others redirected upon himself.

Sigmund Freud
The liberty of the individual is no gift of civilization. It was greatest before there was any civilization.

The liberty of the individual is no gift of civilization. It was greatest before there was any civilization.

Sigmund Freud
Neurosis is the inability to tolerate ambiguity

Neurosis is the inability to tolerate ambiguity

Sigmund Freud
We are so constituted that we can gain intense pleasure only from the contrast, and only very little from the condition itself.

We are so constituted that we can gain intense pleasure only from the contrast, and only very little from the condition itself.

Sigmund Freud
In mourning it is the world which has become poor and empty; in melancholia it is the ego itself.

In mourning it is the world which has become poor and empty; in melancholia it is the ego itself.

Sigmund Freud
As regards intellectual work it remains a fact, indeed, that great decisions in the realm of thought and momentous discoveries and solutions of problems are only possible to an individual, working in solitude.

As regards intellectual work it remains a fact, indeed, that great decisions in the realm of thought and momentous discoveries and solutions of problems are only possible to an individual, working in solitude.

Sigmund Freud
Anatomy is destiny.

Anatomy is destiny.

Sigmund Freud
How bold one gets when one is sure of being loved

How bold one gets when one is sure of being loved

Sigmund Freud
America is the most grandiose experiment the world has seen, but, I am afraid, it is not going to be a success.

America is the most grandiose experiment the world has seen, but, I am afraid, it is not going to be a success.

Sigmund Freud
It is a predisposition of human nature to consider an unpleasant idea untrue, and then it is easy to find arguments against it.

It is a predisposition of human nature to consider an unpleasant idea untrue, and then it is easy to find arguments against it.

Sigmund Freud
One thing only do I know for certain and that is that man's judgments of value follow directly his wishes for happiness-that, accordingly, they are an attempt to support his illusions with arguments. [p.111]

One thing only do I know for certain and that is that man's judgments of value follow directly his wishes for happiness-that, accordingly, they are an attempt to support his illusions with arguments. [p.111]

Sigmund Freud
Words and magic were in the beginning one and the same thing, and even today words retain much of their magical power.

Words and magic were in the beginning one and the same thing, and even today words retain much of their magical power.

Sigmund Freud
The dream is the liberation of the spirit from the pressure of external nature, a detachment of the soul from the fetters of matter.

The dream is the liberation of the spirit from the pressure of external nature, a detachment of the soul from the fetters of matter.

Sigmund Freud
Civilized society is perpetually menaced with disintegration through this primary hostility of men towards one another.

Civilized society is perpetually menaced with disintegration through this primary hostility of men towards one another.

Sigmund Freud
The individual does actually carry on a double existence: one designed to serve his own purposes and another as a link in a chain, in which he serves against, or at any rate without, any volition of his own.

The individual does actually carry on a double existence: one designed to serve his own purposes and another as a link in a chain, in which he serves against, or at any rate without, any volition of his own.

Sigmund Freud
It goes without saying that a civilization which leaves so large a number of its participants unsatisfied and drives them into revolt neither has nor deserves the prospect of a lasting existence.

It goes without saying that a civilization which leaves so large a number of its participants unsatisfied and drives them into revolt neither has nor deserves the prospect of a lasting existence.

Sigmund Freud
Conservatism, however, is too often a welcome excuse for lazy minds, loath to adapt themselves to fast changing conditions.

Conservatism, however, is too often a welcome excuse for lazy minds, loath to adapt themselves to fast changing conditions.

Sigmund Freud
What is common in all these dreams is obvious. They completely satisfy wishes excited during the day which remain unrealized. They are simply and undisguisedly realizations of wishes.

What is common in all these dreams is obvious. They completely satisfy wishes excited during the day which remain unrealized. They are simply and undisguisedly realizations of wishes.

Sigmund Freud
A religion, even if it calls itself a religion of love, must be hard and unloving to those who do not belong to it.

A religion, even if it calls itself a religion of love, must be hard and unloving to those who do not belong to it.

Sigmund Freud
The unconscious of one human being can react upon that of another without passing through the conscious.

The unconscious of one human being can react upon that of another without passing through the conscious.

Sigmund Freud
It is impossible to overlook the extent to which civilization is built up upon a renunciation of instinct....

It is impossible to overlook the extent to which civilization is built up upon a renunciation of instinct....

Sigmund Freud
Where such men love they have no desire and where they desire they cannot love

Where such men love they have no desire and where they desire they cannot love

Sigmund Freud
I was making frequent use of cocaine at that time ... I had been the first to recommend the use of cocaine, in 1885, and this recommendation had brought serious reproaches down on me.

I was making frequent use of cocaine at that time ... I had been the first to recommend the use of cocaine, in 1885, and this recommendation had brought serious reproaches down on me.

Sigmund Freud
A transference neurosis corresponds to a conflict between ego and id, a narcissistic neurosis corresponds to that between between ego and super-ego, and a psychosis to that between ego and outer world.

A transference neurosis corresponds to a conflict between ego and id, a narcissistic neurosis corresponds to that between between ego and super-ego, and a psychosis to that between ego and outer world.

Sigmund Freud
Neurosis is the result of a conflict between the ego and its id, whereas psychosis is the analogous outcome of a similar disturbance in the relation between the ego and its environment (outer world).

Neurosis is the result of a conflict between the ego and its id, whereas psychosis is the analogous outcome of a similar disturbance in the relation between the ego and its environment (outer world).

Sigmund Freud
If children could, if adults knew.

If children could, if adults knew.

Sigmund Freud
I do not in the least underestimate bisexuality. . . I expect it to provide all further enlightenment.

I do not in the least underestimate bisexuality. . . I expect it to provide all further enlightenment.

Sigmund Freud
He who knows how to wait need make no concessions.

He who knows how to wait need make no concessions.

Sigmund Freud
Dream is the dreamer's own psychical act.

Dream is the dreamer's own psychical act.

Sigmund Freud
We are what we are because we have been what we have been, and what is needed for solving the problems of human life and motives is not moral estimates but more knowledge.

We are what we are because we have been what we have been, and what is needed for solving the problems of human life and motives is not moral estimates but more knowledge.

Sigmund Freud
I never want to belong to any club that would have someone like me as a member

I never want to belong to any club that would have someone like me as a member

Sigmund Freud
Our memory has no guarantees at all, and yet we bow more often than is objectively justified to the compulsion to believe what it says.

Our memory has no guarantees at all, and yet we bow more often than is objectively justified to the compulsion to believe what it says.

Sigmund Freud
Man has, as it were, become a kind of prosthetic God.

Man has, as it were, become a kind of prosthetic God.

Sigmund Freud
All neurotics, and many others besides, take exception to the fact that 'inter urinas et faeces nascimur.

All neurotics, and many others besides, take exception to the fact that 'inter urinas et faeces nascimur.

Sigmund Freud
Life is impoverished, it loses in interest, when the highest stake in the game of living, life itself, may not be risked. It becomes as shallow and empty as, let us say, an American flirtation.

Life is impoverished, it loses in interest, when the highest stake in the game of living, life itself, may not be risked. It becomes as shallow and empty as, let us say, an American flirtation.

Sigmund Freud
In matters of sexuality we are at present, every one of us, ill or well, nothing but hypocrites.

In matters of sexuality we are at present, every one of us, ill or well, nothing but hypocrites.

Sigmund Freud
When one does not have what one wants, one must want what one has.

When one does not have what one wants, one must want what one has.

Sigmund Freud
Smoking is indispensable if one has nothing to kiss

Smoking is indispensable if one has nothing to kiss

Sigmund Freud
The distortion of a text resembles a murder: the difficulty is not in perpetrating the deed, but in getting rid of its traces.

The distortion of a text resembles a murder: the difficulty is not in perpetrating the deed, but in getting rid of its traces.

Sigmund Freud
Theoretical considerations require that what is to-day the object of a phobia must at one time in the past have been the source of a high degree of pleasure.

Theoretical considerations require that what is to-day the object of a phobia must at one time in the past have been the source of a high degree of pleasure.

Sigmund Freud
Only a rebuke that 'has something in it' will sting, will have the power to stir our feelings, not the other sort, as we know.

Only a rebuke that 'has something in it' will sting, will have the power to stir our feelings, not the other sort, as we know.

Sigmund Freud
This is one race of people for whom psychoanalysis is of no use whatsoever. [speaking about the Irish]

This is one race of people for whom psychoanalysis is of no use whatsoever. [speaking about the Irish]

Sigmund Freud
Neurosis is no excuse for bad manners.

Neurosis is no excuse for bad manners.

Sigmund Freud
The medical profession is justly conservative. Human life should not be considered as the proper material for wild experiments.

The medical profession is justly conservative. Human life should not be considered as the proper material for wild experiments.

Sigmund Freud
According to the prevailing view human sexual life consists essentially in an endeavor to bring one's own genitals into contact with those of someone of the opposite sex.

According to the prevailing view human sexual life consists essentially in an endeavor to bring one's own genitals into contact with those of someone of the opposite sex.

Sigmund Freud
Everyone owes nature a death.

Everyone owes nature a death.

Sigmund Freud
Sometimes a cigar is just a cigar.

Sometimes a cigar is just a cigar.

Sigmund Freud
The motive forces of phantasies are unsatisfied wishes, and every single phantasy is the fulfillment of a wish, a correction of unsatisfying reality.

The motive forces of phantasies are unsatisfied wishes, and every single phantasy is the fulfillment of a wish, a correction of unsatisfying reality.

Sigmund Freud
It only too often yields to the temptation to become sycophantic, opportunist and lying, like a politician who sees the truth but wants to keep his place in popular favour.

It only too often yields to the temptation to become sycophantic, opportunist and lying, like a politician who sees the truth but wants to keep his place in popular favour.

Sigmund Freud
Human life should not be considered as the proper material for wild experiments.

Human life should not be considered as the proper material for wild experiments.

Sigmund Freud
Analogies, it is true, decide nothing, but they can make one feel more at home.

Analogies, it is true, decide nothing, but they can make one feel more at home.

Sigmund Freud