Civilization and its Discontents, Excerpt #01 {*1}

I do not think I have made a complete enumeration of the methods by which men strive to gain happiness and keep suffering away and I know, too, that the material might have been differently arranged.{*2} … In spite of the incompleteness [of my enumeration (p. 32)], I will venture on a few remarks as a conclusion to our enquiry. The programme of becoming happy, which the pleasure principle imposes on us [p. 25], cannot be fulfilled; yet we must not– indeed, we cannot– give up our efforts to bring it nearer to fulfillment by some means or other. Very different paths may be taken in that direction, and we may give priority either to the positive aspect of the aim, that of gaining pleasure, or to its negative one, that of avoiding unpleasure. By none of these paths can we attain all that we desire. … There is no golden rule which applies to everyone: every man must find out for himself in what particular fashion he can be saved. {*3}

1. Civilization and its Discontents, by Sigmund Frued; W.W. Norton & Company: New York • London
2. p. 32
3. p. 34