Quote Of The Day By Psychoanalyst Sigmund Freud: 'If You Want To Endure Life, Prepare Yourself For...'

Whether you know much about psychoanalysis or not, you've almost surely heard of Sigmund Freud, who was responsible for its founding. The physiologist and psychologist was born in Freiberg, Moravia, in 1856. At 4 years old, he moved to Vienna with his family, where he spent his life. In 1881, he received his degree from medical school before becoming a doctor at Vienna General Hospital. He then opened his own private practice to focus on psychological disorders.

Freud's work led him to develop psychoanalytic theory, which focused on the idea of the unconscious mind and delving into it in order to explain and treat psychological ailments. While psychology has certainly come a long way since Freud's days, his work and scientific discoveries laid the foundation for much of our understanding of the human mind today. That's why Freud's take on grappling with the idea of mortality is today's quote of the day. 

"If you want to endure life, prepare yourself for death." Sigmund Freud shared this quote in his 1915 essay "Thoughts for the Times of War and Death." The quote reminds us that death is a part of life that shouldn't be ignored.

We all know that death is inevitable, but that doesn't mean that we have all fully accepted our mortality. It's easy to avoid thinking about our inevitable demise and bury the thought deep beneath day-to-day concerns. Yet, Freud believed that confronting the reality of mortality is an important part of handling the challenges we'll all face in life. Not acknowledging that death will one day touch us and everyone we know simply leaves us unprepared for the inevitable struggle.

Dream interpretation was one of the most influential parts of Freud's studies. He believed that dreams could uncover things affecting the unconscious mind. Dreams became of interest to Freud when his father died, and troubling dreams followed. The death of someone close to Freud with whom he had a complicated relationship clearly took its toll on him. Perhaps being better mentally prepared for loss could have saved him from some of his struggles. 

Throughout history, people have always had to contend with death, destruction, and mortality. With the internet at our fingertips in the modern era, however, seeing and experiencing loss and fear is more insidious and widespread than ever. Numbing ourselves to mortality or ignoring what we see is tempting, but it can numb us to the world and our humanity just as easily. Coming to terms with mortality and facing it head-on can make us stronger.

• "A human being is so miserable when all he wants is to stay alive."
• "The ego is not master in its own house."
• "One day, in retrospect, the years of struggle will strike you as the most beautiful."
• "Being entirely honest with oneself is a good exercise."
• "Everything that promotes the development of civilization also works against war."