--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: But what Freud showed us… was that…" description: "\"But what Freud showed us… was that nothing can be grasped, destroyed, or burnt, except in a symbolic way, as one says, in effigie, in absentia.\" — Jacq..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/d2f/jacques-lacan-11942_symbolic_but-what-freud-showed-us-was-that-nothin_1720804.jpg" --- # But what Freud showed us… was that nothing can be grasped… ![“But what Freud showed us… was that nothing can be grasped, destroyed, or burnt, except in a symbolic way, as one says, in effigie, in absentia.” quote by Jacques Lacan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/d2f/jacques-lacan-11942_symbolic_but-what-freud-showed-us-was-that-nothin_1720804.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/d2f/jacques-lacan-11942_symbolic_but-what-freud-showed-us-was-that-nothin_1720804.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/d2f/jacques-lacan-11942_symbolic_but-what-freud-showed-us-was-that-nothin_1720804.jpg) > “But what Freud showed us… was that nothing can be grasped, destroyed, or burnt, except in a symbolic way, as one says, in effigie, in absentia.” [Jacques Lacan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jacques-lacan/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Symbolic acts allow us to process loss and trauma by representing them, not confronting them directly. **In simple terms:** We cope with loss through symbols. Key Takeaway Use symbolic rituals to heal. Themes psychology grief symbolism Mood reflective introspective Type philosophical psychological When to use this quote - therapy sessions - mourning rituals - artistic expression Key Concepts psychoanalysis symbolic representation Questions to Reflect On - How do symbols help you process pain? - What symbols do you use for loss? A Different Perspective Symbols may avoid direct emotional confrontation. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Burnt Symbolic](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/burnt-symbolic-1336249/) [Freud](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/freud/) [Freud Showed](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/freud-showed-1336248/) [Grasped Destroyed](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/grasped-destroyed-1336250/) [Says Effigie](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/says-effigie-1336251/) [Symbolic](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/symbolic/) [Way](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/way/) ## Related quotes > [Freud ... showed us that poetry is indigenous to the very constitution of the mind ; he saw the mind as being, in the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lionel-trilling/freud-showed-us-that-poetry-is-indigenous-to-the-very-constitution-of/) [Lionel Trilling](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lionel-trilling/) > [ According to me \[Sigmund \] Freud did not notice that the dream expresses the inner experiences in a symbolic form,resembling in that, poetry or… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/erich-fromm/according-to-me-sigmund-freud-did-not-notice-that-the-dream-expresses/) [Erich Fromm](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/erich-fromm/) > [The emotional brain is highly attuned to symbolic meanings and to the mode Freud called the 'primary process' - the messages of metaphor, story,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/daniel-goleman/the-emotional-brain-is-highly-attuned-to-symbolic-meanings-and-to-the/) [Daniel Goleman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/daniel-goleman/) > [Since Freud, the center of man is not where we thought it was; one has to go on from there.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jacques-lacan/since-freud-the-center-of-man-is-not-where-we-thought-it-was-one-has/) [Jacques Lacan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jacques-lacan/) > [Psychoanalysis is a terribly efficient instrument, and because it is more and more a prestigious instrument, we run the risk of using it with…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jacques-lacan/psychoanalysis-is-a-terribly-efficient-instrument-and-because-it-is/) [Jacques Lacan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jacques-lacan/) > [As is known, it is in the realm of experience inaugurated by psychoanalysis that we may grasp along what imaginary lines the human organism,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jacques-lacan/as-is-known-it-is-in-the-realm-of-experience-inaugurated-by/) [Jacques Lacan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jacques-lacan/) > [The knowledge that there is a part of the psychic functions that are out of conscious reach, we did not need to wait for…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jacques-lacan/the-knowledge-that-there-is-a-part-of-the-psychic-functions-that-are/) [Jacques Lacan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jacques-lacan/) > [Aside from that reservation, a fictive tale even has the advantage of manifesting symbolic necessity more purely to the extent that we may believe…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jacques-lacan/aside-from-that-reservation-a-fictive-tale-even-has-the-advantage-of/) [Jacques Lacan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jacques-lacan/) > [“By what psychoanalyst friends tell me, in the field of the emotional subconscious, the emotional resistances to be overcome are no longer the ones…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/massimo-piattelli-palmarini/by-what-psychoanalyst-friends-tell-me-in-the-field-of-the-emotional/) [Massimo Piattelli-Palmarini](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/massimo-piattelli-palmarini/) > [“I may now add that civilization is a process in the service of Eros, whose purpose is to combine single human individuals, and after…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sigmund-freud/i-may-now-add-that-civilization-is-a-process-in-the-service-of-eros/) [Sigmund Freud](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sigmund-freud/) > [Freud pointed out, in his Problem of Lay Analysis, that it is extremely unlikely that a young man who would throw the best years…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-goodman/freud-pointed-out-in-his-problem-of-lay-analysis-that-it-is-extremely/) [Paul Goodman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-goodman/) > [In the 1950s and early 1960s, psychoanalysis swept through the intellectual community, and it was the dominant mode of thinking about the mind. 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And if you…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sigmund-freud/woe-to-you-my-princess-when-i-come-i-will-kiss-you-quite-red-and-feed/) [Sigmund Freud](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sigmund-freud/) ## More by Jacques Lacan > [The narration, in fact, doubles the drama with a commentary without which no mise en scene would be possible.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jacques-lacan/the-narration-in-fact-doubles-the-drama-with-a-commentary-without/) [Jacques Lacan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jacques-lacan/) > [Symptoms, those you believe you recognize, seem to you irrational because you take them in an isolated manner, and you want to interpret them…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jacques-lacan/symptoms-those-you-believe-you-recognize-seem-to-you-irrational/) [Jacques Lacan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jacques-lacan/) > [Writings scatter to the winds blank checks in an insane charge. 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