Five years Quote by Woody Allen
““These modern analysts! They charge so much. In my day, for five marks Freud himself would treat you. For ten marks, he would treat you and press your pants. For fifteen marks, Freud would let you treat him, and that included a choice of any two vegetables. Thirty dollars an hour! Fifty dollars an hour! The Kaiser only got twelve and a quarter for being Kaiser! And he had to walk to work! And the length of treatment! Two years! Five years! If one of us couldn’t cure a patient in six months we would refund his money, take him to any musical revue and he would receive either a mahogany fruit bowl or a set of stainless steel carving knives. I remember you could always tell the patients Jung failed with, as he would give them large stuffed pandas.””
About This Quote
Source Interview: Woody Allen on Freud, 1970s
He satirically exaggerates the cost and absurdity of modern psychotherapy, contrasting it with exaggerated, cheap treatments of the past.
In simple terms: Therapy is portrayed as overpriced and ridiculous.
Key Takeaway
Question the value of expensive services.
Themes
consumerism
psychology
humor
Mood
wry
critical
Type
comedian
satirical
When to use this quote
- healthcare costs
- therapy choices
- patient expectations
- medical ethics
Key Concepts
economic critique
psycho‑analysis
satire
Questions to Reflect On
- Do high fees always indicate higher quality?
- What truly matters in mental health care?
A Different Perspective
The joke may oversimplify real therapeutic benefits.
![“By what psychoanalyst friends tell me, in the field of the emotional subconscious, the emotional resistances to be overcome are no longer the ones most people felt in Freud's [..] day. The moralizing respectability and the fear of sex evidenced in Freud's day no longer exist. I am told that…” quote by Massimo Piattelli-Palmarini](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/img-quotes/3bc/massimo-piattelli-palmarini-26_freud_by-what-psychoanalyst-friends-tell-me-in_70209.jpg)
