Letters of C. G. Jung: Volume 1, 1951-1961
Letter sent by Carl Jung to Frances G. Wickes August 27, 1926
My dear Mrs. Wickes,
It is too terrible. Was there anything wrong with the thymus gland?
Thre might be a reason for such a sudden death in youth. Anyhow he did not know that he died. He vanished at the moment of joy. But what a loss to you! I wish I could hold your hand and tell you haw deeply I feel with you.
Yours affectionately,
C.G. Jung
Note: Mrs Wickes only son Eliphalet, 21, had died while sailing on the coast of Maine. It was supposed that he had either had a heart attack or been struck by the boom of the sailboat.
Observance of customs and laws can very easily be a cloak for a lie so subtle that our fellow human beings are unable to detect it. It may help us to escape all criticism, we may even be able to deceive ourselves in the belief of our obvious righteousness. But deep down, below the surface of the average man’s conscience, he hears a voice whispering, “There is something not right,” no matter how much his rightness is supported by public opinion or by the moral code. ~Carl G. Jung, in the introduction to Frances G. Wickes’ “Analysis der Kinderseele” (The Inner World of Childhood), 1931