Wise Words from Sigmund Freud

Sigmund Freud (May 6, 1856 – September 23, 1939) was an Austrian neurologist and the founder of psychoanalysis, a clinical method for treating psychopathology through dialogue between patient and psychoanalyst. His seminal works, including The Interpretation of Dreams, Civilization and Its Discontents, and Beyond the Pleasure Principle, revolutionized the understanding of the human mind, introducing concepts like the unconscious, the Oedipus complex, and defense mechanisms. Freud’s theories on sexuality, dreams, and the psyche profoundly influenced psychology, literature, and culture.

Carl Gustav Jung, a contemporary and former collaborator, noted, “Freud’s work has opened a window into the depths of the human soul, revealing truths that challenge and enlighten.”

Below, we list some words of wisdom from Freud, drawn from his writings and lectures.

“Dreams are the royal road to the unconscious.”

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

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

“We are what we are because we have been what we have been.”

“Out of your vulnerabilities will come your strength.”

“The mind is like an iceberg; it floats with one-seventh of its bulk above water.”

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

“Where id was, there ego shall be.”

“The first requisite of civilization is that of justice.”

“Being entirely honest with oneself is a good exercise.”

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

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

“The ego is not master in its own house.”

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

“Neurosis is the inability to tolerate ambiguity.”

“The madman is a dreamer awake.”

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

“Love and work are the cornerstones of our humanness.”

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

“No one who, like me, conjures up the most evil of those half-tamed demons that inhabit the human breast, and seeks to wrestle with them, can expect to come through the struggle unscathed.”

“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.”

“Civilization began the first time an angry person cast a word instead of a rock.”

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

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

“The great question that has never been answered, and which I have not yet been able to answer, despite my thirty years of research into the feminine soul, is ‘What does a woman want?’”

“Time spent with cats is never wasted.”

“Flowers are restful to look at. They have neither emotions nor conflicts.”

“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.”

“The voice of the intellect is a soft one, but it does not rest until it has gained a hearing.”

“Every normal person, in fact, is only normal on the average. His ego approximates to that of the psychotic in some part or other and to a greater or lesser extent.”

“From error to error, one discovers the entire truth.”

“Words have a magical power. They can bring either the greatest happiness or deepest despair.”

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