"As Breuer stood and reached for his coat, Nietzsche added, "One final comment. You've talked a great deal about the second item on our list: 'besieged by alien thoughts.' Perhaps we have today exhausted that category, for I now have an appreciation of how these unworthy thoughts invade and possess your mind. Yet they are nonetheless your thoughts, and it is your mind. I wonder what benefit there is to you in permitting this to occur - or, to put it more strongly - in making it occur."
Breuer, who had one arm in his coat sleeve, froze. "Making it occur? I don't know. All I can say is that, from the inside, it doesn't feel that way. It feels like it happens to me. Your claim that I make it happen has - how shall I say? - no emotional meaning for me."
"We must find a way to give it meaning." And Nietzsche rose and walked to the door with Breuer. "Let us try a thought experiment. For tomorrow's discussion, please consider this question: If you were not thinking these alien thoughts, what would you be thinking?"
--excerpt from When Nietzsche Wept: A Novel of Obsession by Irvin D. Yalom.
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