“There is a pleasure sure
In being mad which none but madmen know.”
John Dryden (1631–1700) English poet and playwright of the XVIIth century
Act II, scene 1.
The Spanish Friar (1681)
“There are some things which it is madness not to try to know but which it is almost as much madness to try to know.”
Trying to Know
The Note-Books of Samuel Butler (1912), Part X - The Position of a HomoUnius Libri
Help us to complete the source, original and additional information
Do you have more details about the quote "There are some things which it is madness not to try to know but which it is almost as much madness to try to know." by Samuel Butler?
Samuel Butler232
novelist 1835–1902Related quotes
“People who try hard to do the right thing always seem mad.”
Stephen King book The Stand
Source: The Stand
“Everyone was mad only some of them didn't know it.”
Christopher Wood (writer) (1935–2015) English writer
Wood, Christopher. "Terrible Hard", Says Alice. London: Constable. 1970. (chapter 11)
Alan Moore (1953) English writer primarily known for his work in comic books
De Abaitua interview (1998)
Context: The magician to some degree is trying to drive him or herself mad in a controlled setting, within controlled laws. You ask the protective spirits to look after you, or whatever. This provides a framework over an essentially amorphous experience. You are setting up your terms, your ritual, your channels – but you deliberately stepping over the edge into the madness. You are not falling over the edge, or tripping over the edge.
When I was a kid, I used to go to the seaside and play in the waves. The thing you learn about waves, is that when you see a big one coming, you run towards it. You try and get out of its way and you’ll end up twenty yards up the beach covered in scratches. Dive into it, and then you can get behind it. You get on top it, you won’t be hurt. It is counter-intuitive, the impulse is to run away, but the right thing to do is to plunge into it deliberately, and be in control when you do it. Magic is a response to the madness of the twentieth century.
David Cronenberg (1943) Canadian film director, screenwriter and actor
Source: Cronenberg on Cronenberg (1997), Ch. 1, P. 7
“If he is mad, so much the better; and if he is mad, I hope to God he’ll bite some of my generals.”
George II of Great Britain (1683–1760) British monarch
The New-York Magazine (November 1791) p. 662.
On being warned by the Duke of Newcastle, in 1758, against promoting James Wolfe. Often quoted as "Mad, is he? Then I hope he will bite some of my other generals."
“Only those things are beautiful which are inspired by madness and written by reason.”
André Gide (1869–1951) French novelist and essayist
