“Obviously one must hold oneself responsible for the evil impulses of one’s dreams. In what other way can one deal with them? Unless the content of the dream rightly understood is inspired by alien spirits, it is part of my own being.”
- May 6, 1856 – September 23, 1939
- Austrian
- Neurologist, Founder of Psychoanalysis
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Quote
“Obviously one must hold oneself responsible for the evil impulses of one’s dreams. In what other way can one deal with them? Unless the content of the dream rightly understood is inspired by alien spirits, it is part of my own being.”
Explanation
In this quote, Freud insists that the contents of our dreams—including dark or immoral impulses—must be acknowledged as part of ourselves. He rejects the idea that troubling dreams are caused by external or supernatural forces; instead, he affirms that dreams reflect unconscious elements of our own psyche. By saying we must “hold oneself responsible,” Freud emphasizes the importance of owning the thoughts and desires that arise in dreams, however uncomfortable they may be.
This perspective is a cornerstone of Freud’s dream theory, particularly in The Interpretation of Dreams (1900), where he argues that dreams are the disguised expressions of repressed wishes. Often these wishes are unacceptable to the conscious mind, leading to their distortion into symbolic forms during sleep. Rather than dismissing these images as meaningless or foreign, Freud believed that understanding and integrating them was essential to psychological insight and healing.
Today, this quote remains relevant in both psychoanalysis and broader discussions of self-knowledge and moral responsibility. While modern neuroscience may offer alternative explanations for dreaming, Freud’s insight challenges us to confront the parts of ourselves we most wish to deny. In doing so, we move toward a fuller understanding of our inner life—not by disowning our dreams, but by accepting that they, too, reveal who we are.
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