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We believe that civilization has been created under the pressure of the exigencies of life at the cost of satisfaction of the instincts.
Sigmund Freud
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Interpretation

What this quote means

Civilization is built on the need to control our basic instincts for the sake of societal order.

In this quote, Freud suggests that the development of civilization required individuals to suppress their natural instincts and desires. He argues that the demands of living in a structured society often force people to sacrifice personal satisfaction to adhere to social norms and responsibilities, emphasizing the tension between instinctual impulses and the order imposed by civilization.

Themes

CivilizationInstinctsSatisfactionLifeOrderSacrifice

In practice

Example use cases

In a discussion about the balance between personal desires and societal expectations, one might say, 'As Freud noted, we believe that civilization has been created under the pressure of the exigencies of life.'

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"He sido un hombre afortunado en la vida, nada me ha sido facil." "I've been a fortunate man in life, nothing has come easy"
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I take up the standpoint that the tendency to aggression is an innate, independent, instinctual disposition in man, and I come back now to the statement that it constitutes the most powerful obstacle to culture.
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One day, in retrospect, the years of struggle will strike you as the most beautiful.
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We are never so defenseless against suffering as when we love, never so forlornly unhappy as when we have lost our love object or its love.
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I cannot think of any need in childhood as strong as the need for a father's protection.
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The tendency to aggression is an innate, independent, instinctual disposition in man... it constitutes the powerful obstacle to culture.
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