“We will therefore turn to the less ambitious question of what men themselves show by their behavior to be the purpose and intention of their lives. What do they demand of life and wish to achieve in it? The answer to this can hardly be in doubt. They strive for happiness; they want to become happy and to remain so. This endeavor has two sides, a positive and a negative aim. It aims, on the one hand, at an absence of pain and unpleasure, and, on the other, at the experiencing of strong feelings of pleasure. In its narrower sense the word 'happiness' only relates to the last. In conformity with this dichotomy in his aims, man's activity develops in two directions, according as it seeks to realize — in the main, or even exclusively — the one or the other of these aims.”

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About Sigmund Freud

Austrian physician and psychoanalyst of the late 19th and early 20th centuries, Freud is best known for founding psychoanalysis and exploring the unconscious mind through techniques like free association. His theories on the structure of personality—id, ego, and superego—and the role of early childhood experiences in shaping behavior remain foundational in psychology.

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"We will therefore turn to the less ambitious question of what men the…" — Sigmund Freud | Daily Quotes