Quote: a cigar is sometimes just a cigar (probably 1950 attrib Sigmund Freud, also 1954)

[Garson O'Toole]

Sometimes a cigar is just a cigar

This is a famous quotation attributed to Sigmund Freud that is usually
labeled apocryphal. The Yale Book of Quotations has a 1973 cite and a
variant in 1961. Ralph Keyes in the Quote Verifier has a discussion
and mentions the same 1961 cite. The Oxford Dictionary of Scientific
Quotations has it attributed to Freud without a date. I didn't see any
dates for the quote in the ADS archive or on Barry Popik's website.

Here is a citation that probably dates to 1950 along with a 1954 cite.
The phrase appears in a footnote in both cases. The apparent 1950 cite
grandly claims that the quote is already famous and it is thirty years
old, i.e., it dates to 1920. The wording for this cite is slightly
different, and I will attempt to check it on paper in a week or two.

Cite: 1950, Psychiatry, [Article title and author unknown at this
time], GB Page 139, William Alanson White Psychiatric Foundation,
Washington, D.C. (Google snippet; Not verified in paper; Data may be
inaccurate; Volume number matches 1950 date, Date probes look good)

One errs, however, in inferring on every occasion, under whatever
circumstances, that such a state of affairs obtains. This is still an
occupational hazard of psychoanalysis—thirty years after Freud's
famous remark that "a cigar is sometimes just a cigar."

http://books.google.com/books?id=nX85AAAAMAAJ&q=cigar#search_anchor


Cite: 1954 Autumn, Law and Contemporary Problems, "Price Controls,
Antitrust Laws, and Minimum Price Laws. The Relation between Emergency
and Normal Economic Controls" by Robert V. Faragher and Fritz F.
Heimann, Page 656, Volume 19, Number 4,  Published by Duke University
School of Law. (JSTOR)

This search for significant meanings where none are to be found
recalls the reply made by Sigmund Freud to overzealous disciples who
felt that there must be a significant meaning behind his cigar
smoking. "Sometimes a cigar is just a cigar," the Father of
Psychoanalysis reminded them.

Article Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/1190303

The latest post on QuoteInvestigator.com is about a well-known
anecdote concerning evolution and religion. The anecdote appears to be
flawed, but it is quite popular:

Darwinism: Let Us Hope It is Not True, But If It is, Let Us Pray It
Does Not Become Widely Known
Wife of the Bishop of Worcester? A Decorous Spinster? Fictional?

Great thanks to list members who have provided information and
encouragement for the blog.
Garson

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