“Lieben und arbeiten”
“To love and to work”
Sigmund Freud (1856-1939)
It’s claimed that Freud, a neurologist who is revered by
some as the father of psychoanalysis, suggested that the good life can be
understood in simple terms: to love and to work.
I think both love and work are pretty good ideas, but Dr.
Freud’s prescription for life is a bit too transitive for me, a bit too
solitary. I’ll defend “to love and to work” as far as it goes, but it doesn’t
go far enough or deep enough.
I’m convinced that a big part of the bounty of my life is
sharing—sharing love, sharing work, sharing the infinite and very expressible
joy of being a grandfather who is part of the developing life experiences of
three young grandchildren, all of whom, as you might well imagine, are
adding substantially to the love and work in my life.
For me, it’s not nearly satisfying enough to love the
beloved people in my life, to love the beautiful things and beautiful ideas and
beautiful words I cherish in my life, to love the concepts of—and my dedication to—essential amity and charity in my relationships with others.
For me, it’s not nearly satisfying enough to do skillful,
honest and useful work.
I want to share my reverence and my advocacy of these things
with all who have a like mind.
I want to celebrate love and work….and I know I can’t do
that alone.
N.B. This is the putative wisdom of Dr. Freud. There are
skeptical sources and unconfirmed sources suggesting that someone asked him
what a person “should be able to do well,” or that a reporter asked him “What
is life all about?”
Copyright © Richard Carl Subber 2014
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