What did Freud say about the Irish?

Answer 1

Did you recently watch the Departed? I watched that too and wondered why Matt Damon said that. I don't know, being Irish, maybe it's that we are too complex to analyze???

What Freud saidWhat Freud was quoted as saying about the Irish was, "This is one race of people for whom psychoanalysis is of no use whatsoever."

Answer 2

Because of our long history of interior and exterior struggle, as a result this has built a unique emotional fortress, with unique protectors of that fortress. This came about from conditioning over the ages which gradually stains genes and passes on to the next. I would not say that this is applicable to anyone less than 95% Irish.

Because of our long history of interior and exterior struggle, as a result this has built a unique emotional fortress, with unique protectors of that fortress. This came about from conditioning over the ages which gradually stains genes and passes on to the next. I would not say that this is applicable to anyone less than 95% Irish. -J. Lynch (Cambridge, MA)

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I'm 50% Irish, and it is absolutely true, for the above reasons-save for the genetics-talk-- i'd go with nurture over nature on this one.

Answer 3

There is no evidence that Freud ever said any such thing. The much repeated "quotation" comes from Thomas Cahill "How the Irish Saved Civilization" (1995), but he provides no reference for it.

Answer 4

Freud's quote was "This is one race of people for whom psychoanalysis is of no use whatsoever." concerning the Irish.

Answer 5

"This is one race of people for whom psychoanalysis is of no use whatsoever"

Answer 6

Perfect integration... they don't need it :)

Answer 7

Yes. His quote was: "This is one race of people for whom psychoanalysis is of no use whatsoever"

Answer 8

Freud did not discuss the Irish as a group in his works. He focused mainly on universal psychological concepts and theories rather than specific cultural or regional characteristics.