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Sigmund Freud arrives in London in 1938
Photo: AFP
"From the discussions up to now we can already see the one consolation that our hurt and painful disappointment because of the uncultural behavior of our fellow citizens of the world were unjustified in this war. They were based on an illusion that we were imprisoned. as we fear, because they did not climb as high as we thought they would. "
- Sigmund Freud,
Contemporary on War and Death
, 1915
One of the most exhilarating human abilities is the gift of admitting an error in such a way that it does not appear as an error, but rather as a necessary step on the way to knowledge - this is how we astonish contemporaries and posterity, and often most ourselves.
Sigmund Freud greeted the outbreak of the world war with patriotic confidence.
"All my libido belongs to Austria-Hungary," he said in August 1914, to the astonishment of his admirers.
How could someone who looked at the bottom of souls with cold skepticism lose track of things so much?
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