The 40 best quotes by Anna Freud
This referent of psychoanalysis embodied her way of thinking in many interesting reflections.
The word Freud is most often associated with Sigmund, the famous psychologist and creator of psychoanalysis. However, his youngest daughter, Anna Freud, was also an influential psychologist who had a great impact on psychoanalysis, psychotherapy and child psychology.
In this article we will see small fragments of the thought of this author from a selection of phrases of Anna Freud.
The best famous quotes of Anna Freud, daughter of Sigmund Freud
Throughout her life, Anna Freud uttered or wrote many reflections that have remained for history. In this article you can find a compilation of her best quotes.
1. When the parents' feelings are ineffective or too ambivalent or when the mother's emotions are temporarily compromised elsewhere, children feel lost.
We often have a mania for blaming children for all ills. The parents' upbringing is behind their behavior.
2. Laziness may seem attractive, but work gives satisfaction
Work is synonymous with health, especially if you do what you like the most.
3. They may shut us up, but they can't stop us from having our own opinions.
Society tries to shape our thinking, but we can think and criticize independently.
4. Sex is something you do. Sexuality is something you are
Your father, Sigmund Freud, is the creator of psychoanalysis, and one of its main components is the psychosexual theory.
5. When error becomes collective, it acquires the force of truth.
Whether it is true or not, cultural thinking has a great influence on people's way of thinking, and few are capable of questioning it even if it is wrong.
6. How wonderful it is that no one needs to wait a single moment before starting to improve the world.
We can all do our bit to change the world if we want to. One of Anna Freud's phrases with more social content.
7. We live trapped, between the scrambled and scrutinized past and a future that awaits our work.
The past exerts a great influence on us and conditions our life to a great extent if we do not remedy it.
8. A first visit to an insane asylum is always a shock
Visiting an insane asylum can have a strong impact on many people.
9. If something doesn't satisfy you, don't be shocked. That's what we call life
People are nonconformists by nature.
10. That one lives without being able to judge oneself, criticize what one has achieved, and still enjoy what one does, is unimaginable to me.
There are people who deceive themselves to avoid having to face reality.
11. Sometimes the most beautiful thing is precisely the one that comes unexpectedly and undeserved, therefore, something truly given as a present
Expectations that are too high can lead to frustration. On the other hand, when something comes to us by surprise it can make us very happy.
12. Not loving ourselves leads to many problems
To love oneself is very beneficial for our well-being and for our self-esteem.
13. Everyone says in a surprised way that I have grown up ... they are so stupid and don't realize that I am just standing on my own two feet.
A quote from Anna Freud with a touch of humor.
14. A collective failure does not have the same dimensions as an individual failure.
When many people make a mistake, the less bad the failure seems.
15. What I have always wanted for myself is much more primitive. It is probably nothing more than the affection of the people with whom I am in contact, and their good opinion of me.
A phrase by Anna Freud that invites deep reflection.
16. In our dreams we can cook eggs exactly as we want them, but we cannot eat them.
Dreams are not something real and therefore we cannot live from them.
17. I am lucky not to have children
Anna Freud had no sons. She married Ely BernaysEly Bernays, the brother of Sigmund Freud's wife, Martha Bernays, and had four daughters.
18. I am no longer afraid to say nothing
A quote referring to the fear of being silent.
19. How can one know everything about people?
People can't know everything in this life. There is always room to learn.
20. Things are not the way we would like them to be. There is only one way to deal with it: try to be okay with yourself.
Acceptance is key to emotional well-being, so we must learn to accept disappointments.
21. Sigmund Freud continually emphasized how much goes unexplained. With the other psychoanalytic writers, everything is always fixed and known.
Anna Freud praising her father and emphasizing how he was humble in recognizing that he still had much to learn.
22. Sigmund Freud always made it clear that he would like to know that I am much more rational and lucid than the girls and women he meets during his hours as a psychoanalyst.
A reference to the expectations Anna's father had of her.
23. Experience has made me learn a lot about this life.
Experience is one of the best ways to learn. It is what is known as experiential learning.
24. I have been looking outside myself to find strength and confidence but these come from within. They have always been there.
A way of saying that self-confidence comes from within.
25. We are only aware of the empty space in the forest, which yesterday was full of trees.
We often find it hard to look inside ourselves, but it is easy to look outside.
26. If I have a stupid day, everything looks bad to me
Everything goes wrong when we have a negative mentality. It makes us see the world in a pessimistic way.
27. I don't see the misery that is there, but the beauty that remains
A way of saying that it is better to see the glass half full than half empty.
28. Children usually don't blame themselves for being lost. They are the adults
Even as adults, there are things we can still learn from the little ones.
29. Everything becomes so problematic because of basic faults: because of a dissatisfaction with myself.
When you are unhappy with who you are, problems are likely to arise in your life.
30. My different personalities leave me alone right now.
A quote with a touch of irony. It means that people can behave in different ways depending on the situation.
31. Why do we act as if everything is friendship and trustworthiness when basically everything everywhere is full of sudden hatred and ugliness?
It's good to look on the bright side of things, but you also have to keep your feet on the ground and be realistic.
32. I was lucky enough to be thrown back into reality.
Reality must be faced head-on, otherwise we run the risk of suffering more than we should because of suffer more than we should because of frustration..
33. Sometimes I think I am a great actress
In relation to how people can adapt to the different environments that are presented to us,
34. Who promised you that there was only pleasure and enjoyment in this life?
Life is full of good times and bad times. To think that it will always be a bed of roses is a mistake.
35. The person I have learned the most from is my father.
A phrase that clearly refers to Sigmund Freud, his father and teacher.
36. Many things become a problem because of the way we are.
Our way of being and interpreting events can make life a problem.
37. A person can feel lonely, even when many people love him or her.
A person with low self-esteem can feel truly alone.
38. Creative minds are known to be able to survive all kinds of bad training.
There are lies that have been so worked out that they seem like truths.
39. Sometimes the most beautiful thing is precisely what comes unexpectedly and does not derive from work.
Work can be beautiful when we are passionate about our work. But many good things happen outside of work as well.
40. Whoever is happy makes others happy as well.
When someone feels good about himself, he is likely to make others feel good.
(Updated at Apr 13 / 2024)