“The schizophrenic has had their window kicked in, the magician has got a body of law – probably most of it bollocks, it doesn’t matter. The magician’s got a system into which the alien information that will be pouring into him or her will be fitted.”

Source: The Amulet of Samarkand

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.

Source: Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell

De Abaitua interview (1998)
Context: I can understand why magicians have such a high insanity rate. We don’t end well, most of us, it has to be said. Paul Daniels might escape the worst effects, but the rest of us are pretty obviously doomed. Once you step over that line, you are in danger from a lot of stuff. Delusion, obviously, being the main thing.

Middlemarch (1871)

A disagreement with Oisín McConville over the best gifts to give loved ones at half-time during the 2020 All-Ireland Senior Football Championship Final. Quoted in The Irish Times https://www.irishtimes.com/sport/gaelic-games/gaelic-football/tv-view-dublin-look-towards-seventh-heaven-as-mayo-s-hell-lingers-on-1.4441949 in December 2020

Angelsea
Song lyrics, Catch Bull at Four (1972)