How we cite our quotes: (Chapter.Section.Paragraph)
Quote #1
But when I came to consider all of these, they could all be collected into a single group of ideas and labeled, as it were, "concern about my own and other people's health—professional conscientiousness." I called to mind the obscure disagreeable impression I had had when Otto brought me news of Irma's condition. […] It was as though he had said to me: "You don't take your medical duties seriously enough. You're not conscientious; you don't carry out what you've undertaken." (2.1.45)
After painstakingly interpreting his Dream of Irma's Injection, Freud concludes that a major motive of the dream was wish-fulfillment—specifically, the wish to be recognized as a skillful and caring doctor and not to be blamed for anyone's troubles or poor health. Because Freud's ideas and methods were so original, he feared that they might not be taken seriously. Going hand-in-hand with his ambition to be recognized as a great man was his desire to be recognized as a good doctor.
Quote #2
So far as I knew, I was not an ambitious man; I was following my profession with gratifying success even without the advantages afforded by a title. Moreover there was no question of my pronouncing the grapes sweet or sour: they hung far too high over my head. (4.1.7)
After Freud was nominated for a university professorship in the spring of 1897, he attempted to accept the fact that he wasn't likely to be offered the position. As he well knew, anti-Semitism was rife in Vienna, and he had seen a number of deserving Jewish men passed over for similar positions. Although he claims that he was not an ambitious man, his Dream of Uncle Josef makes it clear that this situation hurt him deeply.
Quote #3
I must therefore explain that the analysis of these three [last] episodes of the dream showed that they were impertinent boastings, the issue of an absurd megalomania which had long been suppressed in my waking life and a few of whose ramifications had even made their way into the dream's manifest content. (5.3.43)
During his detailed interpretation of the Dream of Count Thun, Freud discovers—and is embarrassed by—clear indications of ambitious, revolutionary feelings, and a high opinion of himself. By alternately mocking men with privilege and imagining that he himself might take their place, Freud reveals his deep desire to be recognized as a great man.