A Collection of Freud’s Works: Valuable Excerpts from What We Call Happiness

Freud, who developed the doctrine of psycholysis, is the founder of the Psychoanalytic Theory, which proposes that personality develops through five different stages. The book “What We Call Happiness”, which consists of the works of Freud , who defines psychoanalysis as “it is essentially a treatment through love”, is a very valuable compilation in which you can find something of yourself. Freud puts happiness into verse with his own pen. Here are some selections from this special book…

“Someday you’ll look back and see that your years of struggle were your best years.”

“Unspoken feelings never die. They are buried alive and come to light in far uglier ways.”

“Listen to your mind in small matters, and your heart in great ones.”

“The goal of happiness that the pleasure principle imposes on us is not an attainable goal; however, we cannot give up our efforts to get closer to achieving that goal in one way or another.”

“We are of such disposition that we derive deep pleasure only from contrasts; the pleasure we derive from the situation itself is very small.”

“I’m not very comfortable with the thought of a life without work. Working and unleashing the imagination are the same for me; I don’t enjoy anything else.”

“I gave you a train ticket on the way to recovery through psychoanalysis. It’s up to you to decide whether to use this ticket or not.”

“The vast majority of people need an authority to admire, submit to, dominate, and sometimes even mistreat them.”

“People’s coexistence has a twofold basis: the necessity of work created by external needs and the power of love.”

“One falls ill the moment one begins to question the meaning and value of life because neither has an objective existence. This question is an admission that an unsatisfied libido is something else, a fermenting process that results in sadness and depression.”

“Family life is organized around the most damaged member of the family.”

“The unconstrained satisfaction of all needs may seem like the most attractive way to survive, but that means preempting arbitrary action and will soon bring its own punishment.”

“What good is a life of hardship and lack of joy; what can we do with a miserable life that will make us face death like a savior?”

“If the young were wise, if the old were able.”

“Love and work, work and love… That’s what life is all about.”

The definition of happiness is quite broad, and it’s the kind of ocean we can drown in. Everyone has a definition, a dream about happiness. I have shared with you some quotes about happiness from Freud, the genius of psychoanalysis, with his unique interpretation. If you were to describe happiness, how would you define it? Is happiness for you the fulfillment of expectations, a momentary pleasure, or the revelation of a part of you that belongs to you deep inside?