ABSTRACT
The ‘act of faith’ (F) depends on disciplined denial of memory and desire. The more the psychoanalyst occupies himself with memory and desire the more his facility for harbouring them increases and the nearer he comes to undermining his capacity for F. It is important that the analyst should avoid mental activity, memory and desire, which is as harmful to his mental fitness as some forms of physical activity are to physical fitness. Before considering the distinction to be made between total suppression, sleep or other recognized states we must consider in more detail what is meant by understanding or memory or desire. The memory can become possessed by a desire; it can cease to be felt as a possession but itself becomes a possessor of the personality that harbours it. Desire is similar to memory in that both have a background of sense impressions.
