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Tuesday, April 5, 2016

D IS FOR?

“In the depths of my heart I can’t help but be convinced that my dear fellow-men, with a few exceptions, are worthless.”
 - Sigmund Freud

Laughing as tears rolled down his cheeks, the ghost of Mark Twain sat down beside me again. 

 "It was as delightful as watching a train wreck listening to you as old Coke Head's eyes got bigger and bigger."

Freud said, "Would you stop calling me that!"

Stone-faced, he turned to me.  "We are at D, young sir."

Twain chuckled, 

"As in your book,  Interpretation of Dreams -- you know the one you considered your 'most significant work.'  

It produced little fanfare when it was published in 1899. Only 351 copies of “The Interpretation of Dreams” were sold in its first six years, 

and a second edition was not published until 1909."

Mark Twain took a deep drag on his cigar and blew the smoke in Freud's face.  "You know, that book?"

I knew that Twain felt Freud a fraud, for the man borrowed the "talking cure" from the physician named Josef Breuer 

who was treating a woman named Bertha Pappenheim for a number of ailments.

It was she who coined the term "talking cure" for the therapy she was receiving from Dr. Breuer.

Worse to Mark, Freud had taken the concept of "Free Association" from a writer of all people!

 "The Art of Becoming an Original Writer in Three Days" by Ludwig Börne.

In it, Börne suggested that a good way to generate ideas was 

to concentrate on various topics, and over the next three days write down anything that came to mind.

Freud had read the essay while a young student.  

But why was Mark being so contrary right now?

 The answer hit me, and I smiled, "Defense by Distraction."

He was defending me as I had defended him.

 Freud glowered at Twain.  "This exercise is for Roland's benefit."

Mark chuckled, "You wouldn't be so quick to say that if you had been on Roland's side of your eyes a minute ago!"



22 comments:

  1. Another entertaining learning experience, Roland. Thank you!

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  2. Another entertaining learning experience, Roland. Thank you!

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  3. Well now, not that I'm *into* Freud (I'm more *into* Jung) I didn't know he'd taken two of his *major* ideas from other people. A lot of ****s here. :)

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    1. Tume in for my J post for Jung to drop by and chat with Mark Twain.

      Yes, Freud did not even originate the idea of the Id. The more we dig into the lives of the greats, the more we wish we hadn't learned! :-)

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  4. Sometimes it sounds like Freud needed a bit of analysis himself. . .Twain is a good buddy to defend you. Many people have scooped their discoveries from others, and many think it's justified. (such as inventors, politicians, and so on)

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    1. Mark Twain is the one to have as a defender all right. :-)

      Thomas Edison thought it was all right for him to do it ... but to be done TO him!

      Freud was a troubled man all through his life.

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  5. Of course he stole his ideas from a writer. Don't writers always have the best ideas? ;)

    Great post, Roland.

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    1. Thanks, J.H. And yes, we writers come up with the great ideas first! At least that is my story, and I am sticking to it. :-)

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  6. Old Coke Head! I loved that, Roland.

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    1. Yes, I love writing Mark Twain: he occurs in four of my novels so far.

      And the W post will let you know why Mark dislikes Freud so.

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  7. It's funny when they banter like that.

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    1. I smile all through their banter as I write it. Maybe I am merely channeling true conversations in the ghostly Meilori's? :-)

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  8. "Defense by Distraction."
    Very well played
    Reminds me of "Distraction Addiction" which I picked up somewhere two years ago.

    Fim

    https://fimnorawestcaw.wordpress.com

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    1. I'll have to look it up. I am so happy you enjoyed this banter of theirs.

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  9. Nice to know even Freud had trouble selling books.

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    1. Tamara, any new theory will always be met with jaundiced eyes. :-(

      Mark Twain had trouble, too. We all have to pay our dues.

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  10. Etu' chuckle! Very Nice Post... but you know that, that's why you posted it! Right!

    Welcome in the letter "D"... thank you!
    Jeremy [Retro]
    AtoZ Challenge Co-Host [2016]

    Stop over and find a free "SIX STRINGS: BLOGGING AtoZ CHALLENGE" Here: http://www.jmhdigital.com/

    HOLLYWOOD NUTS!
    You know you want to know if me or Hollywood... is Nuts?

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    1. Thanks for thinking it very nice. I tried to make you and my other friends smile. :-)

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  11. A delightful exchange for D. I especially like it because I have so much more respect for Twain than Freud. I really don't understand Freud's popularity, except that twisted minds seem to attract the same.

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    1. Like so many others, I like Jung more than Freud. He just got the fame first. :-(

      Thanks for liking the exchanges between the two. :-)

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  12. I like the "talking cure". Makes me think how listening to others is sometimes a talking cure. Twain an Freud are quite the pair.

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  13. Yes, I, too, think that compassionate listening can be therapeutic. Twain and Freud certainly strike sparks from one another! Almost like Twain and Wilde in my DEATH IN THE HOUSE OF LIFE and THE STARS BLEED AT MIDNIGHT. :-)

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