Where did Freud say that mental health meant the ability “to love and to work”?
This formula was cited by Erik Erikson but it is not to be found in Freud’s works, although the sentiment is sometimes implied. During his long engagement Freud stated that his own ambition in life was to have Martha as his wife and to be able to work (e.g. “Couldn’t I for once have you and the work at the same time?” Freud-Martha Bernays 21 Oct. 1885). Freud also referred to Eros and Ananke [Love and Necessity] as the foundations of society. In ‘Civilization and Its Discontents’ (1930) he wrote: “The communal life of human beings had, therefore, a two-fold foundation: the compulsion to work, which was created by external necessity, and the power of love… “. (S.E. XXI.
