"Pathology has made us acquainted with a great number of states in which the boundary lines between the ego and the external world become uncertain or in which they are actually drawn incorrectly. There are cases in which parts of a person's own body, even portions of his own mental life - his perceptions, thoughts and feelings -, appear alien to him and as not belonging to his ego; there are other cases in which he ascribes to the external world things that clearly originate in his own ego and that ought to be acknowledged by it."

10 likes

Source: Sigmund Freud, James Strachey, Anna Freud, Carrie Lee Rothgeb (1961). “The Standard Edition of the Complete Psychological Works of Sigmund Freud”

About the author

Sigmund Freud

Neurologist, Psychoanalyst

Sigmund Freud was an Austrian neurologist and the founder of psychoanalysis, known for his theories on the unconscious mind and human sexuality.

All quotes by Sigmund Freud →

Same author

More quotes by Sigmund Freud

See all →
Sigmund Freud Neurologist, Psychoanalyst

"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."

Read quote
Sigmund Freud Neurologist, Psychoanalyst

"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?'"

Read quote