"Sigmund Freud was a novelist with a scientific background. He just didn't know he was a novelist. All those damn psychiatrists after him, they didn't know he was a novelist either"

This quote by John Irving is a funny way of expressing affection for Sigmund Freud's work. Freud was a scientist who was able to utilize his clinical background to create a novel technique to understanding the human mind. He had the ability to use his knowledge of psychology to develop theories and ideas that are still utilized today. However, Freud was not familiar with his own innovative genius and neither were the psychiatrists who followed him. This quote is a method of acknowledging the significance of Freud's work and the impact it has actually had on the field of psychology. It likewise works as a pointer that sometimes the most creative minds are not constantly familiar with their own genius.