„People from a planet without flowers would think we must be mad with joy the whole time to have such things about us.“
— Iris Murdoch, book A Fairly Honourable Defeat
A Fairly Honourable Defeat (1970); 2001, p. 170.
Quotes about madness
A collection of quotes on the topic of madness.
Related topicsTotal 1328 quotes madness, filter:
„The premonition of madness is complicated by the fear of lucidity in madness, the fear of the moments of return and reunion, when the intuition of disaster is so painful that it almost provokes a greater madness […] One would welcome chaos if one were not afraid of lights in it.“
— Emil M. Cioran Romanian philosopher and essayist 1911 - 1995
On the Heights of Despair (1934)
„A man does not kill himself, as is commonly supposed, in a fit of madness but rather in a fit of unendurable lucidity, in a paroxysm which may, if so desired, be identified with madness; for an excessive perspicacity, carried to the limit and of which one longs to be rid at all costs, exceeds the context of reason.“
— Emil M. Cioran Romanian philosopher and essayist 1911 - 1995
The New Gods (1969)
„I would like to go mad on one condition, namely, that I would become a happy madman, lively and always in a good mood, without any troubles and obsessions, laughing senselessly from morning to night.“
— Emil M. Cioran Romanian philosopher and essayist 1911 - 1995
On the Heights of Despair (1934)
„Impossible to accede to truth by opinions, for each opinion is only a mad perspective of reality.“
— Emil M. Cioran Romanian philosopher and essayist 1911 - 1995
Drawn and Quartered (1983)
„If in life we are surrounded by death, then in the health of our intellect we are surrounded by madness.“
— Ludwig Wittgenstein Austrian-British philosopher 1889 - 1951
„And now have I not told you that what you mistake for madness is but over-acuteness of the senses?“
— Edgar Allan Poe, book The Tell-Tale Heart
The Tell-Tale Heart (1843)
Context: And now have I not told you that what you mistake for madness is but over-acuteness of the senses? -- now, I say, there came to my ears a low, dull, quick sound, such as a watch makes when enveloped in cotton. I knew that sound too. It was the beating of the old man's heart. It increased my fury, as the beating of a drum stimulates the soldier into courage.
„If I do not write to empty my mind, I go mad.“
— George Gordon Byron English poet and a leading figure in the Romantic movement 1788 - 1824
„Billie and I got chased through the traffic once in a car. You expect paparazzi to do that, but when it's normal people you start to think the world's gone a bit mad.“
— David Tennant Scottish actor 1971
Radio Times interview (April 2007) http://www.radiotimes.com/content/show-features/doctor-who/david-tennant-interview-2007/
„Collective madness is called sanity..“
— Paulo Coelho Brazilian lyricist and novelist 1947
Source: Veronika Decides to Die
„So you're a tough guy
Like-it-really-rough guy
Just-can't-get-enough guy
Chest-always-so-puffed guy
I'm that bad type
Make-your-mama-sad type
Make-your-girlfriend-mad type
Might-seduce-your-dad type
I'm the bad guy, duh
I'm the bad guy“
— Billie Eilish American singer-songwriter 2001
"Bad Guy"
When We All Fall Asleep, Where Do We Go? (2019)
„Books are the most wonderful friends in the world. When you meet them and pick them up, they are always ready to give you a few ideas. When you put them down, they never get mad; when you take them up again, they seem to enrich you all the more.“
— Fulton J. Sheen Catholic bishop and television presenter 1895 - 1979
Source: Life Is Worth Living
„Men, it has been well said, think in herds; it will be seen that they go mad in herds, while they only recover their senses slowly, and one by one.“
— Charles Mackay, book Extraordinary Popular Delusions and the Madness of Crowds
Source: Extraordinary Popular Delusions and the Madness of Crowds (1841)
„Everything I ever projected New York to be, it was—even the stinky, ratty, vomity part of it. Everybody has to do the subway. Everybody has to smell the same smells. And people get mad all the time. When people don’t like something, like ‘Get out of my way you blah, blah, blah.’ But [in L. A. ] it’s like, ‘How ya doing? Let’s do lunch! I love you!“
— Jeff Buckley American singer, guitarist and songwriter 1966 - 1997
KCRW – Man In The Moon (January 4, 1994)
From Interviews
„All extremes of feeling are allied with madness.“
— Virginia Woolf, book Orlando: A Biography
Source: Orlando
„If I am going to be drowned — if I am going to be drowned — if I am going to be drowned, why, in the name of the seven mad gods, who rule the sea, was I allowed to come thus far and contemplate sand and trees?“
— Stephen Crane, book The Open Boat
Pt. VI
The Open Boat (1894)
Source: The Open Boat and Other Stories
„One would go mad if one took the Bible seriously; but to take it seriously one must be already mad.“
— Aleister Crowley poet, mountaineer, occultist 1875 - 1947
Source: Magick: Liber ABA: Book 4
„Follow your inner moonlight, don’t hide the madness.“
— Allen Ginsberg, book Howl and Other Poems
Variant: Follow your inner moonlight; don't hide the madness.
Source: Howl and Other Poems