There’s a famous quote attributed to Sigmund Freud that’s used almost in equal measure as evidence that the founder of psychoanalysis was either a) a hypocrite; or b) someone with a sense of humor. Never mind that there’s an alarming lack of evidence to support that Freud ever said this famous phrase.
The legend is what’s important here, and the legend goes something like this: One day, Freud was informally lecturing a group of doctors on his theory of oral fixation when they began quietly laughing. Freud, annoyed at being interrupted, asked what was so funny about his idea. The snickering doctors replied that while he was explaining his theory on the first stage of psycho-sexual development, he was smoking a huge cigar in his mouth.
Depending on the motivation of the story teller, Freud either self-deprecatingly quipped or defensively suggested that:
Gentlemen, sometimes a cigar is just a cigar.
On Sunday, the Toronto Blue Jays announced that their manager for the past two seasons, John Farrell, was leaving the organization to become the new manager of the Boston Red Sox. As compensation for dissolving the last year of his contract with his previous club, the Red Sox sent infielder Mike Aviles to the Blue Jays in exchange for reliever David Carpenter.
