This extension of the libido theory-in my opinion a legitimate one- receives rein-forcement from a third quarter namely from our observations and views on the mental life of ehil-dren and primitive peoples. in the latter we find characteristics which if they occurred singly might be put down to megalomania: an over-estimation of the power of their wishes and mental acts the 'omnipotence of thoughts' a belief in the thaumaturgic force of words and a technique for dealing with the exter­nal world-'magic'-which appears to be a logical application of these grandi-ose premisses. in the children of to-day whose development is much more obscure to us we expect to find an exactly analogous attitude to-wards the external world.