TRANSLATOR'S PREFACE

In studying the neuroses and psychoses Pro-
fessor Freud came to the conclusion that the gap
between the so-called normal and abnormal is
very narrow, that it hardly exists. When we
hear and see the extremely abnormal produc-
tions of the insane they invariably impress us as
very peculiar and incomprehensible, but when
we take the trouble to study these utterances in
the light of the patient’s past experiences, we
soon find that they are not only sensible, but
even logical. Thus, the difference between
sanity and insanity not seldom resolves itself
into a difference of degree or into a slight dif-
ferentiation taxing even the ingenuity of the
expert. But distinctions of this kind can also
be observed among so-called normals. Every
nation has its own peculiar mode of expressions,
which seem strange to foreigners; indeed, every
family has its own freemasonry which mani-

vi

fests itself in speech and action, frequently to
the extent of exciting wonder and suspicion in
the next door neighbor.

In the ultimate analysis it is safe to say that
no two persons seem, or are alike despite the
fundamental instincts which sway all human
behavior. Indeed, individual differences are
not only discernible in the groups just men-
tioned, but they can also be seen in the various
ages of the same individual; the child seems dif-
ferent from the adult, the young man from the
old man. From the beginning of time young
people always have looked with suspicion on the
peculiar conservatism and rigidity of the older
generation, who in turn have always deplored
the rashness and immorality of their maturing
offsprings. It seems then that every age has its
own mode of expression based on its own needs.
The child may be father of the man, but he has
always appeared altogether different than the
adult. Here again the differences disappear as
soon as we can understand the child and his
problems. For corresponding to his age, the
child is perfectly logical in his thoughts and
actions; to be sure, his language is not the same

vii

TRANSLATOR’S PREFACE

as ours, but that is simply a question of under-
standing. Everything that exists in the child
continues directly into adult life, mutatis
mutandis nothing is lost, or as Professor Freud
puts it the behavior of the personality is to be
explained through a coöperation of constitution
and fate, or through inner and outer forces.
In other words, given a child of average make-
up, his future psychic development depends on
his environments.

The importance of this principle will be ap-
parent when we bear in mind Professor Freud’s
dictums, first, that no neurosis can develop
where there is a normal sexual life, and second,
that there is an infantile sexuality which mani-
fests itself from the earliest childhood in phys-
ical reactions and psychic attitudes. In other
words, future normality depends on the first
impressions and experiences of childhood. A
child may thus develop into a normal being, a
pervert, or a neurotic–it all depends on some,
perhaps insignificant, accidental factors of the
first few years of life.

In this small volume Professor Freud dis-
cusses these problems in his own inimitable

viii

TRANSLATOR’S PREFACE

By analyzing a cradle phantasy of
Leonardo da Vinci, who despite his greatness
was sexually abnormal, Professor Freud leads
us through the intricacies of the sexual evolu-
tion of man and shows its relation to normal
and abnormal mental development.

Many valiant efforts were made to solve the
problem of sexuality, which is the weakest spot
in our civilization, but no one contributed more
to its understanding and solution than Profes-
sor Freud. In this work he gives us a clinical
demonstration of his psychosexual theories.
He not only tells us how to help the child to
attain a normal sexuality, the highest aim of
civilization, but he also shows us how to guard
against the numerous threatening pitfalls, and
so prevent the greatest misfortune of civilized
man–an abnormal sex life.

A. A. BRILL.

November 12, 1931.