Men are not gentle creatures

I have discussions sometimes and the last one was about Sigmund Freud and his book Civilization and Its Discontents

There is a quote in the book;

"Men are not gentle creatures, who want to be loved, who at the most can defend themselves if they are attacked; they are, on the contrary, creatures among whose instinctual endowments is to be reckoned a powerful share of aggressiveness. As a result, their neighbor is for them not only a potential helper or sexual object, but also someone who tempts them to satisfy their aggressiveness on him, to exploit his capacity for work without compensation, to use him sexually without his consent, to seize his possessions, to humiliate him, to cause him pain, to torture and to kill him.

I said to the person, you are nothing more than an animal portraying yourself as something friendly and then i see his mask goes off. Its only when he is cornered that he starts acting like a beast among men, defending ( what he believes ) his noble causes.

This is something you see everyday, people defending something which they hold dear to themselves and no one else..

Wish people well as a human, if they mean no harm let it be their illusion..

a reply to: PanPiper

Both sexes equally have their greatness and their failings. To paraphrase Ernst Hemingway, "There is no nobility in being superior to your fellow man, true nobility is being superior to your former self."

Cheers - Dave

a reply to: PanPiper

We are testically driven.It's not really our fault.

Freud isn't taken seriously by anyone anymore.

He himself was a very messed up pervert of a man, not to mention his excessive drug habits.

I dont like most medical science when it comes to the mind and how it works, I beleive too many generalisations are used. That being said I have always believed we are nothing more than mere beasts attempting to be what we think is man. Even reading here on ATS you can see someones animalistic attack (with words) when they do not like something. The keyboard is modern mans dominance scream. IMO anyway.

a reply to: PanPiper

Hey, some chicks dig it, at least the ones that I know.

Beast in sheets man in the streets FTW

a reply to: DeviantMortal

Corner any animal and it will attack, even "humans"..

a reply to: PanPiper

You, sir, are a misanthrope.

I am on the fence as to whether that is a good or bad thing.

a reply to: Metallicus

All these labels, i wish i knew if it made people sound smarter or just made them into idealists...

I use to think myself more of a realist with a transparent point of view. It certainly does not suit some people, well, maybe just maybe.. Its time for them to grow up, what do you think?

Or we could all live in a world of fairytales and make beliefs. If it does not suit some, we could just blame someone other..

Freud also thought every man secretly wants to have sex with his mother.


His worthwhile contributions to the field of psychology were more in showing what could be done, rather than any lasting insights. Most of his work is pretty much discredited now.

a reply to: PanPiper

I don't have any answers for you. I am just along for the ride.

a reply to: Painterz

He might still be relevant if he'd theoried that all men want to have sex with their friends mothers. As for men not being gentle creatures, well long term conditioning is a B#.

I have no doubt my husband would do what he needed to if it came down to it, but either he is the most controlled man ever or truly a gentleman. Certainly if I made the bacon at my job, I'd be completely happy (and I think he would too) with him as a house husband. He has the temperment for it even with that controlled man inside.

originally posted by: Nexttimemaybe
Freud isn't taken seriously by anyone anymore.

He himself was a very messed up pervert of a man, not to mention his excessive drug habits.

You beat me to it.

What he said

a reply to: 3danimator2014

Doesn't say much.
Take Manson for example, crazy fellow but you can't deny there is some truth is some of his sayings.
Portraying believes of others on your own life are most of the time far different than those from the author.