Letter from Freud to Fliess, June 30, 1896

Vienna, June 30, 1896

My dear Wilhelm,

You taught me that a kernel of truth lurks behind every absurd popular belief, and I can give you an example of this. Certain things should not be mentioned even in jest, otherwise they come true. Thus I wrote to you recently that there was no real need for a congress, and today I have to tell you of a serious obstacle which stands in the way of the next one, or at least in the way of fixing its date. My old father (age eighty-one) is in Baden1 in a most shaky state, with heart failure, paralysis of the bladder, and so forth. Eagerly waiting for news and traveling to see him were the only things of interest in these past two weeks. Therefore I do not dare make any plans now that would take me a day's journey away from Vienna. To be sure, he is a tremendous fellow,2 and should he still be granted a span of well-being, as I hope he will, I shall use it for our meeting. I cannot announce my visit today; but could you arrange to take time off if I were to send you a telegram announcing that within twenty-four hours I intend to leave to see you, so that there would still be enough time for you to cable and cancel the trip? Avoiding your significant dates, of course.

I feel a pall has been cast over me, and all I can say is that I am looking forward to our congress as to the slaking of hunger and thirst. I bring nothing but two open ears and one temporal lobe lubricated for reception. I foresee important things — I am that self-seeking — also for my purposes. With regard to the repression theory, I have run into doubts that could be dispelled by a few words from you, in particular about male and female menstruation in the same individual. Anxiety, chemical factors, and so forth — perhaps with your help I shall find the solid ground on which I can cease to give psychological explanations and begin to find a physiological foundation!

I have really been quite inactive as well. The completely uninteresting work on infantile paralyses had to