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 prerogative of determining the goal and of guiding the movements of his powerful mount towards it. But all too often in the relations between the ego and the id we find a picture of the less ideal situation in which the rider is obliged to guide his horse in the direction in which it itself wants to go.
About this quote
- What does it mean?
- Freud compares the ego to a rider trying to guide the id like a horse, noting the horse often dictates the path.
- In plain terms
- The conscious mind tries to lead the unconscious, but the unconscious often pulls it along.
- What can you take from it?
- Conscious control is limited when facing powerful unconscious drives.
Where it applies
Putting it to work
Questions to consider
- How much control do we really have?
- Can the rider ever truly direct the horse?
Another view
The metaphor oversimplifies how conscious and unconscious interact.
More from Sigmund Freud
Analogies prove nothing, that is quite true, but they can make one feel more at home.
Permalink to quote #26 The poor ego has a still harder time of it; it has to serve three harsh masters, and it has to do its best to reconcile the claims and demands of all three... …
Permalink to quote #28 In some place in my soul, in a very hidden corner, I am a fanatical Jew. I am very much astonished to discover myself as such in spite of all efforts to be unp…
Permalink to quote #25
Related quotes
The ego is not master in its own house.
Sigmund FreudSigmund Freud quote #10 Keep violence in the mind where it belongs.
Brian AldissBrian Aldiss quote #5 Everybody has an ego.
Kirk DouglasKirk Douglas quote #7