Quotes about madness
page 14

Benjamin Franklin photo

“The mind is always asking you to do something over again, something you have already done so many times before. And every time you see that by doing it nothing is achieved. What else can madness be?”

Benjamin Franklin (1706–1790) American author, printer, political theorist, politician, postmaster, scientist, inventor, civic activist, …

Misattributed

John Updike photo
Ibn Hajar al-Asqalani photo
Robert Jordan photo

“I would not mind you in my head, if you were not so clearly mad.”

Lews Therin, to Rand
The Path of Daggers (20 October 1998)

Norman Solomon photo
Wajid Ali Shah photo

“Shedding tears we spend the night in this deepening dark,
Our day is but a long struggle against an uphill path,
Not a single moment goes when we don't bewail our lot,
Lo! we cast a lingering look on these doors and walls.
Fare thee well, my countrymen, we are going afar!
We wish you well, O friends, leave you to His care,
And entrust our Qaiser Bagh to the blowing air,
While we give our tender heart to terror and despair.
Fare thee well, my countrymen, we are going afar!
I am betrayed by my friends, whom should I excuse?
Except God the gracious, I have no refuge,
I can't escape exile, under any excuse.
Lo, we cast a lingering look on the doors and wells,
Fare thee well, my countrymen, we are going afar!
I have been told this much too, ah! the scourage of time!
The servant calls his master 'mad,' a travesty of the mind.
As for me, I cannoy help, but rot in alien climes.
Lo, we cast a lingering look on these doors and walls,
Fare thee well, my countrymen, we are gong afar!
This is the cause of my regret, to whom should I complain?
What wondrous goods of mine are subjected to disdain,
My exile has raised a storm in the whole domain.
Lo we cast a lingering look on the doors and walls,
Fare thee well, my countrymen, we are going afar!
You cannot help but suffer, O heart, the sharp strings of grief,
They didn't spare even the things essential for the mourning meets,
In the scorching summer heat, I've no cover or sheet.
Akhtar now departs from all his friends and mates,
There is little time or need to dwell upon my fate,
Save, O God, my countrymen from the dangers lying in wait!
Lo, we cast a lingering look on these doors and walls,
Fare thee well, my countrymen, we are going afar!”

Wajid Ali Shah (1822–1887) Nawab of Awadh

Masterpieces of Patriotic Urdu Poetry, p. 63-67
Poetry

Ounsi el-Hajj photo
William Cobbett photo
Wendell Berry photo

“It is wrong to condemn people for doing a thing and then offer no alternative but failure. A person could get mad about that.”

Wendell Berry (1934) author

"The Problem of Tobacco"
Sex, Economy, Freedom & Community (1993)

Waleed Al-Husseini photo
Wendell Berry photo
Benjamin Franklin photo

“To be mad is to keep repeating something that has already been seen as useless, as worthless.”

Benjamin Franklin (1706–1790) American author, printer, political theorist, politician, postmaster, scientist, inventor, civic activist, …

Misattributed

Elif Shafak photo

“I learned to pay attention to the readers and not to the madness…Because to be a writer in Turkey is a bit like being kissed on one cheek and slapped on the other.”

Elif Shafak (1971) Turkish writer

On focusing on her readership in “Elif Shafak: ‘I thought the British were calm about politics. Not any longer’” https://www.theguardian.com/books/2019/sep/16/elif-shalak-i-thought-the-british-were-calm-about-politics-booker-prize-shortlist in The Guardian (2019 Sep 16)

Bobby Sands photo

“People get really mad when you don't let them use you.”

Christian Canlubo (2002) Filipino Internet Entrepreneur

Source: https://twitter.com/canlubochris/status/1239121399731458048 | Christian Canlubo personal Twitter account

Jerry Seinfeld photo

“I'll tell you the greatest thing that I've ever achieved in my career: I was on the cover of Mad magazine. And of course, I'm saying "Hello Neuman."”

Jerry Seinfeld (1954) American comedian and actor

Comedians in Cars Getting Coffee (2012 — Present), Season 3 (2014)

Giordano Bruno photo

“Cause, Principle, and One eternal
From whom being, life, and movement are suspended,
And which extends itself in length, breadth, and depth,
To whatever is in Heaven, on Earth, and Hell;
With sense, with reason, with mind, I discern,
That there is no act, measure, nor calculation, which can comprehend
That force, that vastness and that number,
Which exceeds whatever is inferior, middle, and highest;
Blind error, avaricious time, adverse fortune,
Deaf envy, vile madness, jealous iniquity,
Crude heart, perverse spirit, insane audacity,
Will not be sufficient to obscure the air for me,
Will not place the veil before my eyes,
Will never bring it about that I shall not
Contemplate my beautiful Sun.”

Giordano Bruno (1548–1600) Italian philosopher, mathematician and astronomer

"Of Love" as translated in The Infinite in Giordano Bruno : With a Translation of His Dialogue, Concerning the Cause, Principle, and One (1978) by Sidney Thomas Greenburg, p. 89
Variant translation:
<p>Cause, Principle and One, the Sempiterne,
On whom all being, motion, life, depend.
From whom, in length, breadth, depth, their paths extend
As far as heaven, earth, hell their faces turn :
With sense, with mind, with reason, I discern
That not, rule, reckoning, may not comprehend
That power and bulk and multitude which tend
Beyond all lower, middle, and superne.</p><p> Blind error, ruthless time, ungentle doom,
Deaf envy, villain madness, zeal unwise,
Hard heart, unholy craft, bold deeds begun,
Shall never fill for one the air with gloom,
Or ever thrust a veil before these eyes,
Or ever hide from me my glorious sun.</p>
As quoted in "Giordano Bruno" by Thomas Davidson, The Index Vol. VI. No. 36 (4 March 1886), p. 429
Cause, Principle, and Unity (1584)

Stephen King photo
Emil M. Cioran photo

“I admire only two types of people: the potentially mad and the potential suicide.”

Emil M. Cioran (1911–1995) Romanian philosopher and essayist

On the Heights of Despair (1934)

Annie Besant photo
Prevale photo

“An excellent relationship is pure madness to live in two.”

Prevale (1983) Italian DJ and producer

Original: (it) Un'ottima relazione è pura follia da vivere in due.
Source: prevale.net

Prevale photo

“Life is the code of madness, endless combinations of risky actions.”

Prevale (1983) Italian DJ and producer

Original: (it) La vita è il codice della follia, infinite combinazioni di rischiose azioni.
Source: prevale.net

Greg McKeown (author) photo
Ron English photo

“Madness is the genius’ substitute for stupidity.”

Ron English (1959) American artist

Ron English's Fauxlosophy (2016)

Honoré de Balzac photo

“Crime and madness have some similarity. Seeing the prisoners of the Conciergerie in the courtyard, or seeing the mad in the garden of a nursing home, it's the same thing. Both walk around, avoiding each other, glancing at each other at least singularly, atrociously, according to their thoughts of the moment, never cheerful or serious; because they know each other or they fear each other. The expectation of a condemnation, remorse, anxieties give walkers in the courtyard a worried and a haggard look of madmen. Consummate criminals alone have an assurance which resembles the tranquility of an honest life, the sincerity of a pure conscience.”

et Misères des courtisanes (The Splendors and Miseries of Courtesans) (1837-1847), part IV. La dernière Incarnation de Vautrin (The Last Incarnation of Vautrin) https://books.google.ca/books?id=ajtOAAAAcAAJ&pg=PA1&dq=Splendeurs+et+Mis%C3%A8res+des+Coutisanes+Sc%C3%A8nes+de+la+Vie+parisienne&hl=en&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwiq69XJuJTvAhXrMlkFHcxvDVgQ6AEwCHoECAEQAg#v=onepage&f=falseSplendeurs, "Le Préau de la Conciergerie" ("The Courtyard of the Conciergerie") (chapter title).
Original: (fr) Le crime et la folie ont quelque similitude. Voir les prisonniers de la Conciergerie au préau, ou voir des fous dans le jardin d'une maison de santé, c'est une même chose. Les uns et les autres se promènent en s'évitant, se jettent des regards au moins siguliers, atroces, selon leurs pensées du moment, jamais gais ni sérieux ; car ils se connaissent ou ils se craignent. L'attente d'une condamnation, les remords, les anxiétés donnent aux promeneurs du préau l'air inquiet et hagard des fous. Les criminels consommés ont seuls une assurance qui ressemble à la tranquillité d'une vie honnête, à la sincérité d'une conscience pure.

Valter Bitencourt Júnior photo
Tanith Lee photo

“The stink of madness is unsubtle here. Let us be going.”

Prologue, “The Tower of Baybhelu”(p. 36)
Tales from the Flat Earth, Delusion's Master (1981)

Prevale photo

“Dare to call it madness only if you felt part of it.”

Prevale (1983) Italian DJ and producer

Original: (it) Abbiate il coraggio di chiamarla follia solo se vi sentiste parte di essa.
Source: prevale.net

Prevale photo

“You are the occurrence of my life, you know how to be my most overwhelming madness.”

Prevale (1983) Italian DJ and producer

Original: (it) ​Tu, sei l'occorrenza della mia vita, sai essere la mia più travolgente follia.
Source: prevale.net

Dee Bradley Baker photo

“You don’t tear up the room because there’s a sweet spot for the microphones, and you can’t deviate very far from that or else the engineer gets mad. You have to act with your whole body, but keep it right in the zone.”

Dee Bradley Baker (1962) American voice actor

Denver’s “Clone Wars,” “Phineas and Ferb” voice actor on working (from home) through a pandemic https://theknow.denverpost.com/2020/08/21/dee-bradley-baker-interview/243747/ (August 21, 2020)

Aldous Huxley photo

“Every crusader is apt to go mad. He is haunted by the wickedness which is attributed to his enemies; it becomes in some sort a part of him.”

Aldous Huxley (1894–1963) English writer

Aldous Huxley, The Devils of London Chatto & Windus, London, (1951) p. 274

Menotti Lerro photo

“Wherever will the promised light be? Is there a paradise among the clouds maybe, rest in the wind, refreshment on the seabed? Where does the dark, the insomnia, the madness, the crying, the illness, the death finish? Where does God hide himself?”

Menotti Lerro (1980) Italian poet

Dove sarà mai la luce promessa? C’è forse un paradiso tra le nuvole, riposo nel vento, ristoro nei fondali marini? Dove finisce il buio, l’insonnia, la pazzia, il pianto, la malattia, la morte? Dove si nasconde Dio?
FROM: Andrew Mangham, The Poetry of Menotti Lerro, Cambridge Scholars Publishing 2011, pp. 71-72. ISBN 978-1443828444

Megan Thee Stallion photo

“Women, we naturally want to be the best…And I can’t be mad at the next girl for wanting to be the best! Why would I get mad at you for saying you the baddest? Why can’t we both agree that we bad, and that just be that?”

Megan Thee Stallion (1995) American rapper and songwriter

On preferring collaboration rather than rivalry in “'When a woman raps, she spitting!' Megan Thee Stallion, the hot girl taking over hip-hop” https://www.theguardian.com/music/2020/may/08/megan-thee-stallion-hot-girl-taking-over-hip-hop-interview in The Guardian (2020 May 8)

Mwanandeke Kindembo photo
John Mulaney photo
Lois McMaster Bujold photo
Johann Kaspar Lavater photo

“The jealous is possessed by a "fine mad devil" and a dull spirit at once.”

Johann Kaspar Lavater (1741–1801) Swiss poet

No. 345
In William Shakespeare's The Merry Wives of Windsor, Act 5, sc. 1, Falstaff says that Mistress Ford's husband has "the finest mad devil of jealousy in him".
Aphorisms on Man (1788)

Meher Baba photo

“Mind working is man, mind working fast is mad, mind slowed down is Mast and mind stopped is God.”

Meher Baba (1894–1969) Indian mystic

General sources

Prevale photo

“Always be consistent by keeping within you that spark of healthy madness, which makes your soul vital.”

Prevale (1983) Italian DJ and producer

Original: (it) Siate sempre coerenti conservando in voi quella scintilla di sana follia, che rende vitale la vostra anima.
Source: prevale.net

John Derbyshire photo
Guy P. Harrison photo
Michel Henry photo
Gilbert O'Sullivan photo

“Ooh, baby, your love is so bad
You, baby, you're driving me mad
Ooh, baby, your kiss is so sweet
You, baby, knock me off my feet
Ooh, baby, I wish you were mine
Ooh, baby, we'd have a good time
Ooh, what can I do?”

Gilbert O'Sullivan (1946) Irish singer-songwriter

"Ooh, Baby" (song)
Gilbert O'Sullivan, "Ooh, Baby" https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qPsVmA742FE (song on YouTube)
Song lyrics

Jane Yolen photo

“Madness also makes folks uneasy; they fear contagion.”

Jane Yolen (1939) American speculative fiction and children's writer

Source: Short fiction, Dragonfield and Other Stories (1985), The Tree’s Wife (p. 78)

Ricardo Ezzati photo

“My opinion is that the best law is an education of quality, that begins in the family, grows at school and finds in society a stimulus for the formation of people. We are greatly lacking in civic friendship, we look at one another as mad people and not as brethren or as people who share the same ideal, the same purpose.”

Ricardo Ezzati (1942) archbishop and cardinal

Source: Chile – Cardinal Ezzati: Reparation Eucharist https://www.infoans.org/en/sections/news/item/1167-chile-cardinal-ezzati-reparation-eucharist-at-gratitud-nacionain-this-l (13 June 2016)

Tara Westover photo

“When life itself seems lunatic, who knows where madness lies?”

Source: Educated (2018), Chapter 36, “Four Long Arms, Whirling” (p. 301)

Louis De Bernières photo
Ron English photo

“Mad to the marrow.”

Ron English (1959) American artist

Ron English's Fauxlosophy: Volume 2 (2022)

Martin Luther King, Jr. photo

“Now there is a final reason I think that Jesus says, "Love your enemies." It is this: that love has within it a redemptive power. And there is a power there that eventually transforms individuals. That's why Jesus says, "Love your enemies." Because if you hate your enemies, you have no way to redeem and to transform your enemies. But if you love your enemies, you will discover that at the very root of love is the power of redemption. You just keep loving people and keep loving them, even though they're mistreating you. Here's the person who is a neighbor, and this person is doing something wrong to you and all of that. Just keep being friendly to that person. Keep loving them. Don't do anything to embarrass them. Just keep loving them, and they can't stand it too long. Oh, they react in many ways in the beginning. They react with bitterness because they're mad because you love them like that. They react with guilt feelings, and sometimes they'll hate you a little more at that transition period, but just keep loving them. And by the power of your love they will break down under the load. That's love, you see. It is redemptive, and this is why Jesus says love. There's something about love that builds up and is creative. There is something about hate that tears down and is destructive. So love your enemies.”

Martin Luther King, Jr. (1929–1968) American clergyman, activist, and leader in the American Civil Rights Movement

1950s, Loving Your Enemies (November 1957)

Kim Stanley Robinson photo
Prevale photo

“Normality is a boring uniformity, madness a lively uniqueness.”

Prevale (1983) Italian DJ and producer

Original: La normalità è una noiosa uniformità, la follia una vivace unicità.
Source: prevale.net

Vincent Van Gogh photo

“Well, well, there are moments when I am wrung by enthusiasm or madness or prophecy like a Greek oracle on a tripod... Everyone suffers here either from fever, or hallucination, or madness, we understand each other like members of the same family.”

Vincent Van Gogh (1853–1890) Dutch post-Impressionist painter (1853-1890)

Quote in his letter to brother Theo, from Arles, France, 3 Febr. 1889; as quoted in Vincent van Gogh, edited by Alfred H. Barr; Museum of Modern Art, New York, 1935 https://www.moma.org/documents/moma_catalogue_1996_300061887.pdf, (letter 576), p 25
1880s, 1889

Bill Maher photo
Prevale photo

“Madness is one of the main resources for accomplishing genious feats.”

Prevale (1983) Italian DJ and producer

Original: La follia è una delle principali risorse per compiere geniali imprese.
Source: prevale.net