Letter from Sigmund Freud to Karl Abraham, October 16, 1925

497F

Vienna, Berggasse 191
16 October 1925

Dear Friend,

Your direct letter2 gave me more pleasure, of course, and was more reassuring than all the indirect news. I hope you will soon be able to write and say that in this respect you have become completely uninteresting again.

Your short paper3 is enchanting. I think you should not wait for your turn in , but that it should be used as the introductory article in the next annual series of the . The subject is interesting enough for physicians too. In one respect I should have stated the train of thought rather differently, I should have emphasized not the deprivation of pleasure but the fact that he could form no superego because he had been unable to achieve an Oedipus complex. The fact that in these circumstances he was able to establish an unconscious need of punishment instead of a normal conscience could be the point of departure for further reflections.

We have almost forgotten the summer, though the weather is now more summer-like than it was at the end on the Semmering. I have interesting work and not too much of it, and am still struggling with my usual minor complaints.

With cordial greetings to you and your family,

Yours,

Freud