“One form of insanity bears the name curiosity.”
Charles Sheffield book Convergence
Source: The Heritage Universe, Convergence (1997), Chapter 18 (p. 433)
As quoted in Born under Saturn: the character and conduct of artists : a documented history from antiquity to the French Revolution (1963) by Margot Wittkower.
“One form of insanity bears the name curiosity.”
Charles Sheffield book Convergence
Source: The Heritage Universe, Convergence (1997), Chapter 18 (p. 433)
“There is a fine line between insanity and genius.”
Dan Brown book The Lost Symbol
Source: The Lost Symbol
“The distance between insanity and genius is measured only by success”
Ian Fleming (1908–1964) English author, journalist and naval intelligence officer
“The difference between insanity and genius is measured only by success and failure.”
Masashi Kishimoto (1974) Japanese manga artist
Robertson Davies (1913–1995) Canadian journalist, playwright, professor, critic, and novelist
Dylan Thomas and Hector Berlioz (1956).
Context: Genius is unquestionably a great trial, when it takes the romantic form, and genius and romance are so associated in the public mind that many people recognize no other kind. There are other forms of genius, of course, and though they create their own problems, they are not "impossible" people. But O, how deeply we should thank God for these impossible people like Berlioz and Dylan Thomas! What a weary, grey, well-ordered, polite, unendurable hell this would be without them!
“There is a thin line between genius and insanity. I have erased this line.”
Oscar Levant (1906–1972) American comedian, composer, pianist and actor
As quoted in Celebrity Register: An Irreverent Compendium of American Quotable Notables (1959) by Cleveland Amory.
“Insanity is a very high art form. If everyone was insane, I wouldn’t be here!”
Rik Mayall (1958–2014) British comedian and actor
The Stage, January 2007 https://www.thestage.co.uk/opinion/2014/remembering-rik-mayall-one-oddest-fun-interviews-ive-ever-done/
Napoleon I of France (1769–1821) French general, First Consul and later Emperor of the French
Napoleon : In His Own Words (1916)
Context: One must indeed be ignorant of the methods of genius to suppose that it allows itself to be cramped by forms. Forms are for mediocrity, and it is fortunate that mediocrity can act only according to routine. Ability takes its flight unhindered.