The pleasure principle long persists, however, as the method of working employed by the sexual instincts, which are so hard to 'educate', and, starting from those instincts, or in the ego itself, it often succeeds in overcoming the reality principle, to the detriment of the organism as a whole.
Sigmund FreudThe ego represents what we call reason and sanity, in contrast to the id which contains the passions.
Sigmund FreudReligion is the process of unconscious wish fulfillment, where, for certain people, if the process did not take place it would put them in self-danger of coming to mental harm, being unable to cope with the idea of a godless, purposeless life.
Sigmund FreudWhat a distressing contrast there is between the radiant intelligence of the child and the feeble mentality of the average adult.
Sigmund FreudWe find a place for what we lose. Although we know that after such a loss the acute stage of mourning will subside, we also know that we shall remain inconsolable and will never find a substitute. No matter what may fill the gap, even if it be filled completely, it nevertheless remains something else.
Sigmund Freud