Sigmund Freud Quotes
In every age immorality has found no less support in religion than morality has. If the achievements of religion in respect to man's happiness, susceptibility to culture and moral control are no better than this, the question cannot but arise whether we are not overrating its necessity for mankind, and whether we do wisely in basing our cultural demands upon it.
Freud, Sigmund. The Future of an Illusion. Translated by James Strachey, W. W. Norton & Company, 1961, p. 38.
This quotation is sometimes used to show that Washington thought religion important. Most of the founding fathers thought religion both important and potentially dangerous. They had observed Europe tear itself apart over religious differences. Note that Washington uses the words “religious principles” as opposed to “religion” or “religious prescriptions” or “religious doctrine.” The founders were not hostile to the concept of religion—even Jefferson and Franklin saw potential values in religion and religious institutions. They were hostile, however, to letting any particular sect dominate the religious environment of the nation. Nor did they want any of the religions controlling or operating the civil government. See {625616}.
Sigmund Freud was an Austrian neurologist and the founder of psychoanalysis, a clinical method for treating psychopathology through dialogue between a patient and a psychoanalyst.
