The assumption that everything past is preserved holds good even in mental life only on condition that the organ of the mind has remained intact and that its tissues have not been damaged by trauma or inflammation. But destructive influences which can be compared to causes of illness like these are never lacking in the history of a city, even if it has had a less chequered past than Rome, and even if, like London, it has hardly ever suffered from the visitations of an enemy.

A strong egoism is a protection.

Analysis does not set out to make pathological reactions impossible, but to give the patient's ego freedom to decide one way or another.

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

I consider it a good rule for letter-writing to leave unmentioned what the recipient already knows, and instead tell him something new.

Life as we find it is too hard for us; it entails too much pain, too many disappointments, impossible tasks. We cannot do without palliative remedies.

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.