In Honor of St. Pattie's Day...

In our newly minted Best Picture Oscar, The Departed, Matt Damon's character, Colin, woos over his love interest, the psychoanalyst Madolyn, by quoting something Freud said about the Irish:

Colin: "Of course I want to see you again. What Freud said about the Irish is we're the only people impervious to psychoanalysis."

But as Dr. Charles points out, despite what you'll find on a Google search or the Boston Globe, Freud didn't actually ever say that! In a clever act of investigative journalism, Dr. Charles actually wrote to the director of research at the Freud Museum, in London, and asked him about the legitimacy of the quote's attribution. His response (which is also stated on the FAQ section of the museum's website):

"There is no evidence Freud said [the quote]. The only documentation seems to be Anthony Burgess, in his introduction to a book of Irish short stories: 'One of [Freud's] followers split up human psychology into two categories - Irish and non-Irish.'"

Impervious to psychoanalysis or not, here's wishing a happy St. Patrick's Day to all you crazy Irish!