Thus we arrive at the singular conclusion that of all the information passed by our cultural assets it is precisely the elements which might be of th… - Sigmund Freud

Where id is, there shall ego be

The functional importance of the ego is manifested in the fact that normally control over the approaches to motility devolves upon it. Thus in its relation to the id it is like a man on horseback, who has to hold in check the superior strength of the horse; with this difference, that the rider tries to do so with his own strength while the ego uses borrowed forces. The analogy may be carried a little further. Often a rider, if he is not to be parted from his horse, is obliged to guide it where it wants to go; so in the same way the ego is in the habit of transforming the id's will into action as if it were its own.

Moreover, the act of birth is the first experience of anxiety, and thus the source and prototype of the affect of anxiety.