Quotes about madness page 4
“Madness is always a wonderful excuse, don’t you think? For doing terrible things to other people.”
Jennifer McMahon (1968) American writer
Source: The Winter People
Michael Thomas Ford (1968) American writer
Source: Suicide Notes
“There is a fissure in my vision and madness will always rush through.”
Anaïs Nin book House of Incest
Source: House of Incest
“Culture is perishing in overproduction, in an avalanche of words, in the madness of quantity.”
Milan Kundera book The Unbearable Lightness of Being
Source: The Unbearable Lightness of Being
“Some were brilliant bordering on genius. Others, genius bordering on madness”
Erich Segal (1937–2010) American writer
“The Bible looks like it started out as a game of Mad Libs.”
Bill Maher (1956) American stand-up comedian
Be More Cynical (2000)
“If I love you it means we share the same fantasies, the same madnesses”
Anaïs Nin (1903–1977) writer of novels, short stories, and erotica
Source: The Diary of Anaïs Nin, Vol. 1: 1931-1934
Jon Ronson (1967) British journalist, documentary filmmaker, radio presenter and nonfiction author
Source: The Psychopath Test: A Journey Through the Madness Industry
“In a mad world, only the mad are sane!”
Akira Kurosawa (1910–1998) Japanese film maker
Ran (1985)
Variant: In a mad world, only the mad are sane.
“I like you because you were mad. And you're pretty. And pretty sane for a mad person.”
Maureen Johnson book 13 Little Blue Envelopes
Source: 13 Little Blue Envelopes
“Madness is only an amplification of what you already are.”
Margaret Atwood book Surfacing
Source: Surfacing
“Laughter, along with madness, seemed to be the only way out, the emergency exit for humans.”
Matt Haig (1975) British writer
Source: The Humans
“You shall know the truth and the truth shall make you mad.”
Aldous Huxley (1894–1963) English writer
Ilona Andrews American husband-and-wife novelist duo
Source: Magic Bleeds
“What's madness but nobility of soul at odds with circumstance?”
Theodore Roethke book The Far Field
Source: The Far Field
“My name is Stephen Leeds, and I am perfectly sane. My hallucinations, however, are all quite mad.”
Brandon Sanderson (1975) American fantasy writer
Source: Legion
“But I like my madness. There is a thrill in it unknown to such sanity as yours.”
Rafael Sabatini book Scaramouche
Book 1, Chapter 9
Source: Scaramouche
“For mad I may be, but I will never be convenient.”
Jennifer Donnelly book Revolution
Source: Revolution
“At the moment I was mad enough to chew up nails and spit out paper clips.”
Jim Butcher book Storm Front
Source: Storm Front
E. Lockhart (1967) American writer of novels as E. Lockhart (mainly for teenage girls) and of picture books under real name Emily J…
Source: The Treasure Map of Boys: Noel, Jackson, Finn, Hutch, Gideon—and me, Ruby Oliver
Alan Moore book Batman: The Killing Joke
Batman : The Killing Joke (1988)
Source: Batman: The Killing Joke
Context: When you find yourself locked onto an unpleasant train of thought, heading for the places in your past where the screaming is unbearable, remember there's always madness. Madness is the emergency exit. You can just step outside, and close the door on all those dreadful things that happened.
Forever.
“The single biggest act of bravery or madness anyone can do is the act of change.”
Matt Haig (1975) British writer
Source: The Humans
“Some tiny creature, mad with wrath, is coming nearer on the path.”
Edward Gorey (1925–2000) American writer, artist, and illustrator
Source: The Evil Garden
“a man there was, though some did count him mad, the more he cast away the more he had.”
John Bunyan The Pilgrim's Progress
Source: The Pilgrim's Progress
Sherman Alexie book The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian
Source: The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian
“Somewhere in the depths of solitude, beyond wilderness and freedom, lay the trap of madness.”
Edward Abbey book The Monkey Wrench Gang
Source: The Monkey Wrench Gang (1975)
“A person needs a little madness, or else they never dare cut the rope and be free.”
Nikos Kazantzakis book Zorba the Greek
As quoted in Wisdom for the Soul : Five Millennia of Prescriptions for Spiritual Healing (2006) by Larry Chang, p. 412
Variant: You have everything but one thing: madness. A man needs a little madness or else - he never dares cut the rope and be free.
Source: Zorba the Greek
Ilona Andrews American husband-and-wife novelist duo
Source: Burn for Me
“I'll tell you a secret. We live in a mad and inspiring world.”
Ben Hecht (1894–1964) American screenwriter
“People get mad Annabel. Its not the end of the world.”
Sarah Dessen book Just Listen
Source: Just Listen
“You can't stay mad at someone who makes you laugh.”
Jay Leno (1950) American comedian, actor, writer, producer, voice actor and television host
Carl Sagan book Cosmos
17 min 40 sec
Source: Cosmos: A Personal Voyage (1990 Update), Who Speaks for Earth? [Episode 13]
“Oh, goodie! I get to make the redheaded goddess mad! (Simi)”
Sherrilyn Kenyon book Dance with the Devil
Source: Dance with the Devil
“Only those things are beautiful which are inspired by madness and written by reason.”
André Gide (1869–1951) French novelist and essayist
Elizabeth Cohen American journalist
Source: The Hypothetical Girl
Jack Kerouac book The Dharma Bums
Source: The Dharma Bums (1958)
Context: "Now you understand the Oriental passion for tea," said Japhy. "Remember that book I told you about; the first sip is joy, the second is gladness, the third is serenity, the fourth is madness, the fifth is ecstasy."
“I'm the last of the mad ones.”
Maureen Johnson (1973) writer from the USA
Source: The Name of the Star
“Obsession is the wellspring of genius and madness.”
Michel De Montaigne (1533–1592) (1533-1592) French-Occitan author, humanistic philosopher, statesman
Ilona Andrews American husband-and-wife novelist duo
Source: On the Edge
“A horse must be a bit mad to be a good cavalry mount, and its rider must be completely so.”
Steven Pressfield (1943) United States Marine
Source: The Virtues of War: A Novel of Alexander the Great
“A man must be a little mad if he does not want to be even more stupid.”
Michel De Montaigne book Essays
Book III, Ch. 9
Essais (1595), Book III
“He regarded himself as an accomplished writer — a clear sign of madness in anyone.”
Paul Theroux (1941) American travel writer and novelist
“I wanted to laugh. Or maybe get mad. Or maybe shrug at how strange everyone was, especially me.”
Stephen Chbosky book The Perks of Being a Wallflower
Source: The Perks of Being a Wallflower
John Updike (1932–2009) American novelist, poet, short story writer, art critic, and literary critic
"They Thought They Were Better" in TIME magazine (21 July 1980) http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,924295,00.html
“Great wits are sure to madness near alli'd;
And thin partitions do their bounds divide”
John Dryden Absalom and Achitophel
Pt. I, lines 159–172.
Source: Absalom and Achitophel (1681)
Context: A daring pilot in extremity;
Pleas'd with the danger, when the waves went high
He sought the storms; but for a calm unfit,
Would steer too nigh the sands, to boast his wit.
Great wits are sure to madness near alli'd;
And thin partitions do their bounds divide:
Else, why should he, with wealth and honour blest,
Refuse his age the needful hours of rest?
Punish a body which he could not please;
Bankrupt of life, yet prodigal of ease?
And all to leave, what with his toil he won
To that unfeather'd, two-legg'd thing, a son:
Got, while his soul did huddled notions try;
And born a shapeless lump, like anarchy.
“I'm Keith," he said, "and you're… clearly mad, but what's your name?”
Maureen Johnson book 13 Little Blue Envelopes
Source: 13 Little Blue Envelopes