quote · Legacy record
In the last analyses, all suffering is nothing else than sensation. We shall never completely master nature; and our bodily organism, itself a part of that nature, will always remain a transient structure with a limited capacity for adaptation and achievement. The benefits of order are incontestable; it enables men to use space and time to the best advantage. The first requisite of a civilization is that of justice that is, the assurance that a law once made will not be broken in favor of an individual. The liberty of the individual is no gift of civilization. It was greatest before there was any civilization. Mine is a most peaceable disposition. My wishes are: a humble cottage with a tattered roof, but a good bed, good food, the freshest milk and butter, flowers before my window, and a few fine trees before my door; and if God wants to make my happiness complete, he will grant me the joy of seeing some six or seven of my enemies hanging from those trees. Before their death I shall, moved in my heart, forgive them all the wrongly they did in their lifetime. One must, it is true, forgive one’s enemies-but not before they have been hanged.
In the last analyses, all suffering is nothing else than sensation. We shall never completely master nature; and our bodily organism, itself a part of that nature, will always remain a transient structure with a limited capacity for adaptation and achievement. The benefits of order are incontestable; it enables men to use space and time to the best advantage. The first requisite of a civilization is that of justice that is, the assurance that a law once made will not be broken in favor of an individual. The liberty of the individual is no gift of civilization. It was greatest before there was any civilization. Mine is a most peaceable disposition. My wishes are: a humble cottage with a tattered roof, but a good bed, good food, the freshest milk and butter, flowers before my window, and a few fine trees before my door; and if God wants to make my happiness complete, he will grant me the joy of seeing some six or seven of my enemies hanging from those trees. Before their death I shall, moved in my heart, forgive them all the wrongly they did in their lifetime. One must, it is true, forgive one’s enemies-but not before they have been hanged.
Approximate author period: c. 1897 AD · industrial
Meaning not yet available
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Begin with source-checked readings and explanations ↗Attribution & collection notes
- Author or tradition
- Sigmund Freud
Attribution: attributed - Country attributed
- Not established
A country attribution does not establish the earliest origin. - Historical period
- Approximate author period: c. 1897 AD · industrial
Approximate author-period anchor from life dates 1856 to 1939; Wikidata Q9215, https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q9215 (accessed 2026-10-08). Not a quotation composition date.
An author lifetime, approximate period or collection date is not necessarily the date when these words were first written or spoken. - Recorded source
- Contributor-provided wisdom reference (2014 AD)
Supplied reference B; unit 1021; PDF page 94; printed attribution: Sigismund Schlomo Freud
A collection's publication date can be later than the words it records.