„Tense, unnerved, and close to madness before writing—and when I read what I’ve written it looks so calm.“
— Peter Handke Austrian writer, playwright and film director 1942
p. 16
Quotes about madness
A collection of quotes on the topic of madness.
Related topicsTotal 1254 quotes madness, filter:
„Proud of my near-madness, as if I had attained a goal.“
— Peter Handke Austrian writer, playwright and film director 1942
p. 16
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„I’m not mad. I’m in a perfectly happy mood, you asshole.“
— Kurt Cobain American musician and artist 1967 - 1994
„She's mad, but she's magic. There's no lie in her fire.“
— Charles Bukowski American writer 1920 - 1994
„No great mind has ever existed without a touch of madness.“
— Aristotle Classical Greek philosopher, student of Plato and founder of Western philosophy -384 - -322 BC
„The only people for me are the mad ones, the ones who are mad to live, mad to talk, mad to be saved, desirous of everything at the same time, the ones who never yawn or say a commonplace thing, but burn, burn, burn, like fabulous yellow roman candles exploding like spiders across the stars and in the middle you see the blue centerlight pop and everybody goes "Awww!"“
— Jack Kerouac American writer 1922 - 1969
Context: They danced down the streets like dingledodies, and I shambled after as I've been doing all my life after people who interest me, because the only people for me are the mad ones, the ones who are mad to live, mad to talk, mad to be saved, desirous of everything at the same time, the ones who never yawn or say a commonplace thing, but burn, burn, burn like fabulous yellow roman candles exploding like spiders across the stars and in the middle you see the blue centerlight pop and everybody goes "Awww!"
Part One, Ch. 1
„Too bad the things that make you mad are my favorite things.“
— Brandon Boyd American rock singer, writer and visual artist 1976
„I would like to leave behind me the conviction that if we maintain a certain amount of caution and organization we deserve victory…. You cannot carry out fundamental change without a certain amount of madness. In this case, it comes from nonconformity, the courage to turn your back on the old formulas, the courage to invent the future. It took the madmen of yesterday for us to be able to act with extreme clarity today. I want to be one of those madmen…. We must dare to invent the future.“
— Thomas Sankara President of Upper Volta 1949 - 1987
From 1985 interview with Swiss Journalist Jean-Philippe Rapp, translated from Sankara: Un nouveau pouvoir africain by Jean Ziegler. Lausanne, Switzerland: Editions Pierre-Marcel Favre, 1986. In Thomas Sankara Speaks: The Burkina Faso Revolution 1983-87. trans. Samantha Anderson. New York: Pathfinder, 1988. pp. 141-144.
„And they say
She's in the Class A Team.
Stuck in her daydream,
Been this way since 18.
But lately her face seems
Slowly sinking, wasting,
Crumbling like pastries.
And they scream
The worst things in life come free to us.
Cos we're just under the upperhand
And go mad for a couple of grams.
And she don't want to go outside tonight.
And in a pipe she flies to the Motherland
Or sells love to another man.
It's too cold outside
For angels to fly;
Angels to fly.“
— Ed Sheeran English singer-songwriter and producer 1991
The A Team.
„You may not be her first, her last, or her only. She loved before she may love again. But if she loves you now, what else matters? She's not perfect—you aren't either, and the two of you may never be perfect together but if she can make you laugh, cause you to think twice, and admit to being human and making mistakes, hold onto her and give her the most you can. She may not be thinking about you every second of the day, but she will give you a part of her that she knows you can break—her heart. So don't hurt her, don't change her, don't analyze and don't expect more than she can give. Smile when she makes you happy, let her know when she makes you mad, and miss her when she's not there.“
— Bob Marley Jamaican singer, songwriter, musician 1945 - 1981
„Would it save you a lot of time if I just gave up and went mad now?“
— Douglas Adams, The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy
„I know that ghosts have wandered on earth. Be with me always — take any form — drive me mad! Only do not leave me in this abyss where I can not find you! Oh, God! it is unutterable! I can not live without my life! I can not live without my soul!“
— Emily Brontë, Wuthering Heights
Context: Catherine Earnshaw, may you not rest as long as I am living! You said I killed you — haunt me then! The murdered do haunt their murderers, I believe; I know that ghosts have wandered on earth. Be with me always — take any form — drive me mad! Only do not leave me in this abyss where I can not find you! Oh, God! it is unutterable! I can not live without my life! I can not live without my soul!
Heathcliff (Ch. XVI).
„There is always some madness in love. But there is also always some reason in madness.“
— Friedrich Nietzsche German philosopher, poet, composer, cultural critic, and classical philologist 1844 - 1900
„The only performance that makes it, that makes it all the way is the one that achieves madness.“
— Mick Jagger British rock musician, member of The Rolling Stones 1943
