many, if not most, of our most dearly coveted
desires, without, however, being able to abrogate these entirely.

There are two ways in which these forbidden desires may become
satisfied. On the one hand, the instinctive striving, finding it quite
out of the question to gain expression through the desired channels, may
become sublimated into a form which is in accord with our social and
ethical requirements, or the forbidden strivings and desires may find
gratification in the individual's fantasy. We are here particularly
concerned with the latter mode of psychic adjustment. This mode of
adjustment is the usual way in which conflicts with reality are solved
by the child and the savage. For them a rigid recognition of reality,
such as is necessitated by the normal adult in his struggles for
existence, does not take place. In fact, the evolution from childhood to
adult life, from savagery to civilization, consists in nothing else than
in the progressive recognition of reality and the adjustment thereto.
One of the forms of getting away from reality, or a falsification of
conditions as they actually exist, was expressed by one of Freud's
patients as the "omnipotence of thought" (_Allmacht der Gedanken_). It
is a state of mind in which the individual believes in the omnipotence
of his thoughts; that his mere thinking possesses tremendous power; that
no sooner he thinks of a certain deed than the same is accomplished;
that an enemy, for instance, is actually harmed by merely wishing him
harm. This mode of thinking forms the basis for many magic ceremonials.
It is this latter mechanism,--_i.e._, the endowment of one's own
thoughts with an omnipotent power,--which is also frequently illustrated
in malingering. It is sufficient for the type of individual who
malingers to merely say the word, and the most fantastic creation of his
fancy immediately becomes a reality and is apperceived by him as such. A
mere verbal denial of guilt on his part is sufficient to make him
believe fully in his innocence and act accordingly. When we inquire into
the origin of this facility in transforming fantasy into reality, for
this omnipotence of the mere word or thought, we find it in the totally
unreasonable overcompensation of these individuals for their feeling of
impotence and weakness. This feeling of weakness and helplessness
naturally becomes more acute under especially stressful situations of
life, and hence it is that the criminal, especial