I think that Hitler was abnormal in his sexual needs. That is, he needed too little from the opposite sex. He considered women as objects of beauty, and he often talked with affection about his own mother. I obtained the impression that he disliked his father, because he never mentioned him. But it is a bad thing if a man has too little Eros in him. It makes him insensitive, and probably leads to cruelty. Freud, Sigmund Freud, the last of the great German psychiatrists, who died in England, pointed out the relationship between frustrated love and cruelty. I believe it is what you psychiatrists term sadism. I'm convinced that a man who does not need the love of a woman, and thinks he can forgo it, or who does forgo it, can turn to cruelty and sadism as a substitute.
About this quote
- What does it mean?
- Frank speculates that Hitler's lack of sexual need and emotional connection led to cruelty, citing Freud's theories on frustrated love.
- In plain terms
- He thinks Hitler was cruel because he lacked love and sexual desire.
- What can you take from it?
- Emotional or physical detachment can sometimes lead to cruelty.
Where it applies
Putting it to work
Questions to consider
- What drives cruelty?
- How does intimacy affect behavior?
Another view
Psychological speculation without direct evidence can be unreliable.
More from Hans Frank
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