The ego is not master in its own house.
About this quote
- What does it mean?
- Freud suggests that the conscious self is not fully in control of its own thoughts and actions due to unconscious influences.
- In plain terms
- We are not always in control of our own minds.
- What can you take from it?
- Unconscious forces limit the control the conscious ego has over itself.
Where it applies
Putting it to work
Questions to consider
- How much control do we really have?
- What parts of us operate outside awareness?
Another view
This view emphasizes limitations rather than human potential for self-regulation.
More from Sigmund Freud
The psychic development of the individual is a short repetition of the course of development of the race.
Permalink to quote #9 The unconscious is the larger circle which includes within itself the smaller circle of the conscious; everything conscious has its preliminary step in the unc…
Permalink to quote #11 He that has eyes to see and ears to hear may convince himself that no mortal can keep a secret. If his lips are silent, he chatters with his fingertips; betray…
Permalink to quote #8
Related quotes
One might compare the relation of the ego to the id with that between a rider and his horse. The horse provides the locomotor energy, and the rider has the pre…
Sigmund FreudSigmund Freud quote #27 The unconscious is the larger circle which includes within itself the smaller circle of the conscious; everything conscious has its preliminary step in the unc…
Sigmund FreudSigmund Freud quote #11 Delusions of grandeur make me feel a lot better about myself.
Jane WagnerJane Wagner quote #25