quote · Legacy record
Our possibilities of happiness are already restricted by our constitution. Unhappiness is much less difficult to experience. We are threatened with suffering from three directions: from our own body, which is doomed to decay and dissolution and which cannot even do without pain and anxiety as warning signals; from the external world, which may rage against us with overwhelming and merciless forces of destruction; and finally from our relations to other men. The suffering which comes from this last source is perhaps more painful to us than any other.
Our possibilities of happiness are already restricted by our constitution. Unhappiness is much less difficult to experience. We are threatened with suffering from three directions: from our own body, which is doomed to decay and dissolution and which cannot even do without pain and anxiety as warning signals; from the external world, which may rage against us with overwhelming and merciless forces of destruction; and finally from our relations to other men. The suffering which comes from this last source is perhaps more painful to us than any other.
Approximate author period: c. 1897 AD · industrial
Meaning not yet available
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- 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.
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Supplied reference C; CSV row 215275; supplied attribution, independently unverified
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