Letter from Freud to Fliess, October 20, 1895

Vienna, October 20, 1895

Dearest Wilhelm,

Everything fine except for the three-day migraine. Aside from that regret, this letter is devoted to science.

I was of course terribly pleased with your opinion about the hysteria-obsessional neurosis solution. Now listen to this. During an industrious night last week, when I was suffering from that degree of pain which brings about the optimal condition for my mental activities, the barriers suddenly lifted, the veils dropped, and everything became transparent — from the details of the neuroses to the determinants of consciousness. Everything seemed to fall into place, the cogs meshed, I had the impression that the thing now really was a machine that shortly would function on its own. The three systems of n[eurones]; the free and bound states of Qn [quantity]; the primary and secondary processes; the main tendency and the compromise tendency of the nervous system; the two biological rules of attention and defense; the characteristics of quality, reality, and thought; the state of the psychosexual group; the sexual determination of repression; finally, the factors determining consciousness, as a function of perception — all that was correct and still is today! Naturally, I can scarcely manage to contain my delight.

If I had only waited two weeks longer before reporting to you, everything would have turned out so much clearer. Yet it was only in attempting to report it to you that the whole matter became obvious to me. So it could not have been done any other way. Now I shall not find much time for a systematic presentation. Treatments are beginning, and the cerebral paralyses, which do not interest me