Letter from Sigmund Freud to Sándor Ferenczi, July 16, 1927

Semmering, July 16, 1927

Dear friend,

I had already received a report from Eitingon about your visit, from which it was apparent that he was no more satisfied with you than you were with him.1 I am, of course, totally on your side in the question, but I have turned my interest away from it and am not even reading through the resolutions carefully. I have done my utmost, accomplished little, and can do no more.

To minimize the difference between you and Eitingon, I only want to say that you are probably deceiving yourself as to the extent of what can be accomplished at the Congress. Eitingon is proceeding as a practical diplomat and is trying—perhaps only as a favor to me—to get as much through as possible. But it would be very regrettable if you made victory in the lay question a condition for accepting the presidency. The practice will take a different shape than the prescription, and in a position of leadership you can exert a great influence along our lines.

This summer is actually catastrophic, as if a great comet were in the heavens. We now hear about uproar in Vienna,2 are almost cut off, and without knowing for sure what is going on there and what will come of it. It is a foul thing.

A little too much sickliness here.

Kind regards.

Yours,

Freud