Sigmund Freud’s name conjures up an image of his most famous photograph, when he was a seasoned psychiatrist, looking keenly into the camera lens.

The picture is reminiscent of Albert Einstein’s photographs, in that you can hardly imagine him being  anything other than a celebrated genius nearing the end of a long career. But he wasn’t always this man. Looking at a couple of photos of Freud earlier in his life and reading some of his words might disrupt our views of the most famous psychiatrist in history.

One day, in retrospect, the years of struggle will strike you as the most beautiful. – Sigmund Freud

Here he was at age 53. Already he looks confident and accomplished.

Sigmund Freud at Clark University in Worcester, Massachusetts in 1909

Words have a magical power. They can either bring the greatest happiness or the deepest despair. – Sigmund Freud

This photo must have been taken a bit earlier though I couldn’t find a date.

Most people do not really want freedom, because freedom involves responsibility, and most people are frightened of responsibility. – Sigmund Freud

Going back even further, here is a 29-year-old Freud with his wife Martha Bernays in 1885.

Freud with his wife Martha in June 1885.

My favorite Freud quote wasn’t something the good doctor actually said. It was something one of his patients said about him.  I’ve often used it when I led classes about communication and the power of listening.

“It struck me so forcibly that I shall never forget him. He had qualities which I had never seen in any other man. Never had I seen such concentrated attention. There was none of that piercing ‘soul-penetrating gaze’ business. His eyes were mild and genial. His voice was low and kind. His gestures were few. But the attention he gave me, his appreciation of what I said, even when I said it badly, was extraordinary. You’ve no idea what it meant to be listened to like that.”