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14 April 1912
Vienna IX, Berggasse 19
65F
Prof. Dr. Freud
Dear Dr. Binswanger,
An old man like me, who should not complain (and has decided not to complain) if his life comes to an end in a few years, feels especially aggrieved when one of his flourishing young friends, one of those who is meant to continue his own life, informs me that his life is in danger.1 On thinking it over, however, I gradually collected myself and remembered that in spite of the existing suspicions all the odds are in your favour and that you have only been reminded a little more conspicuously of the precariousness in which we all live and which we are so ready to forget.
But you will not forget it just now, and life, as you say, will hold a special and enhanced charm for you. As for the rest, we will be hoping for the best, something our present-day knowledge permits us to do without self-deception. I shall, of course, keep the secret, as you have asked me to, proud of the privilege you have granted. But it goes without saying that I would like to see you as soon as this is possible without disturbing you. Perhaps at Whitsun? I trust you will let me know if this would suit you. I am pleased to hear that the plan for your paper2 preoccupies you more than ever, and I will now answer your other questions, which bear witness to your interest in everything that goes on in our circle.
I too, no longer consider Bjerre's case as a hysteria,3 but it would seem to prove clearly the importance of homosexuality. The patient escapes paranoia so long as she can invest a part of her libido in the man, succumbs to it when she is completely dependent on the woman, and is cured by the restoration of her relationship with the man. Since Bjerre omitted to provide an elementary analysis of sexuality, he has had to fill the gap in comprehension with rather too much rhetoric.
Silberer4 has a sensitive mind with a strong penchant for the occult, which he came upon on his way to psychoanalysis and has only used psychoanaly