Quotes from Sigmund Freud

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

Demons do not exist any more than gods do, being only the products of the psychic activity of man.

A man's heterosexuality will not put up with any homosexuality, and vice versa.

What a distressing contrast there is between the radiant intelligence of the child and the feeble mentality of the average adult.

Psychiatry is at present a significantly descriptive and classificatory science which is still more somatically than psychologically oriented, and which lacks possibilities for explaining observed phenomena. But psychoanalysis is not in opposition to psychiatry, as one might be led to believe by the almost unanimous behaviour of psychiatrists.

Obviously one must hold oneself responsible for the evil impulses of one's dreams. In what other way can one deal with them? Unless the content of the dream rightly understood is inspired by alien spirits, it is part of my own being.

We know less about the sexual life of little girls than of boys. But we need not feel ashamed of this distinction; after all, the sexual life of adult women is a 'dark continent' for psychology.

Writers write for fame, wealth, power and the love of women.

The great question which I have not been able to answer despite my 30 years of research into the feminine soul is "what does a woman want"?

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

If you can't do it, give up!

I cannot face with comfort the idea of life without work; work and the free play of the imagination are for me the same thing, I take no pleasure in anything else.

Two hallmarks of a healthy life are the abilities to love and to work. Each requires imagination.

There is a powerful force within us, an un-illuminated part of the mind - separate from the conscious mind that is constantly at work molding our thought, feelings, and actions.

The first human who hurled an insult instead of a stone was the founder of civilization.

A certain degree of neurosis is of inestimable value as a drive, especially to a psychologist.

The communal life of human beings had . . . a two-fold foundation: the compulsion to work, which was created by external necessity, and the power of love.

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

Opposition is not necessarily enmity; it is merely misused and made an occasion for enmity.

Civilization runs a greater risk if we maintain our present attitude to religion than if we give it up.

Couldn't I for once have you and the work at the same time?

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

There is to my mind no doubt that the concept of beautiful had its roots in sexual excitation and that its original meaning was sexually stimulating.

To be completely honest with oneself is the very best effort a human being can make.