best quotations about
Madness |
and Folly
| 69 quotes | Visits: 7,201 |
Quotations
 | In individuals, insanity is rare; but in groups, parties, nations and epochs, it is the rule. — Friedrich Nietzsche, 1844-1900, German philosopher 15 likes |
 | Madness is to think of too many things in succession too fast, or of one thing too exclusively. — Voltaire, 1694-1778, French philosopher & writer 15 likes |
 | If a man who thinks he is a king is mad, a king who thinks he is a king is no less so. — Jacques Lacan, 1901-1981, French psychoanalyst 15 likes |
 | Love is a state of temporary psychosis. — Sigmund Freud, 1856-1939, Austrian psychologist, founder of psychoanalysis 12 likes |
 | To be sane in a world of madman is in itself madness. — Jean Jacques Rousseau, 1712-1778, Swiss-French philosopher 10 likes |
 | Only those things are beautiful which are inspired by madness and written by reason. — André Gide, 1869-1951, French writer, Nobel 1947 9 likes |
 | The only difference between a madman and me is that I am not mad. — Salvador Dali, 1904-1989, Spanish painter 8 likes |
 | Show me a sane man and I will cure him for you. — Karl Jung, 1875-1961, Swiss psychiatrist 8 likes |
 | The thoughts written on the walls of madhouses by their inmates might be worth publicizing. — Georg Christoph Lichtenberg, 1742-1799, German author of maxims 8 likes |
 | If there is a supreme being, he's crazy. — Marlen Dietrich, 1901-1992, German-American actress 7 likes |
 | There's a fine line between genius and insanity. I have erased this line — Oscar Levant, 1906-1972, American pianist 7 likes |
 | A man who is of 'sound mind' is one who keeps his inner madman under lock and key. — Paul Valery, 1871-1945, French poet 7 likes |
 | Is our species crazy? Plenty of evidence. — Saul Bellow, 1914-2005, Canadian-American writer, Nobel 1976 7 likes |
 | You’re only given a little spark of madness. You mustn’t lose it. — Robin Williams, 1951-2014, American actor 6 likes |
 | The world is becoming like a lunatic asylum run by lunatics. — David Lloyd George, 1863-1945, British Prime Minister [1916-1922] 5 likes |
 | Men are so necessarily mad, that not to be mad would amount to another form of madness. — Blaise Pascal, 1623-1662, French thinker 5 likes |
 | Any man who wants to be president is either an egomaniac or crazy. — Dwight Eisenhower, 1890-1969, American general & President 5 likes |
 | If he was indeed mad, his delusions were beautifully organized — Arthur Clarke, 1917-2008, British Sci-Fi writer 5 likes |
 | Everything great in the world is done by neurotics; they alone founded our religions and created our masterpieces. — Marcel Proust, 1871-1922, French writer 5 likes |
| In an age of madness, to expect to be untouched by madness is a form of madness. But the pursuit of sanity can be a form of madness, too. — Saul Bellow, 1914-2005, Canadian-American writer, Nobel 1976 5 likes |
 | I became insane, with long intervals of horrible sanity. — Edgar Allan Poe, 1809-1849, American writer 5 likes |
 | The modern society is fundamentally insane. — Cornelius Castoriadis, 1922-1997, Greek-French philosopher & social critic 4 likes |
 | Reason is the folly of the powerful. The reason of the less powerful is a folly. — Eugene Ionesco, 1912-1994, French-Romanian playwright 4 likes |
 | Generations may be swept away by the madness of kings in the space of a single hour. — Edward Gibbon, 1737-1794, English historian 4 likes |
 | The final test of fame is to have a crazy person imagine he is you. — Anonymous 3 likes |
 | We are all born mad. Some remain so. — Samuel Beckett, 1906-1989, Irish writer, Nobel 1969 3 likes |
 | When one person suffers from a delusion, it is called insanity. When many people suffer from a delusion it is called a Religion. — Robert M. Pirsig, 1928-2017, American writer 3 likes |
 | Religion is a type of mental disease. It has always had a pathological reaction on mankind. — Benito Moussolini, 1883-1945, Italian dictator 3 likes |
 | If one looks with a cold eye at the mess man has made of history, it is difficult to avoid the conclusion that he has been afflicted by some built-in mental disorder which drives him towards self-destruction. — Arthur Koestler, 1905-1983, Hungarian-British writer 2 likes |
| The history of saints is mainly the history of insane people. — Benito Moussolini, 1883-1945, Italian dictator 2 likes |
 | Better mad with the rest of the world than wise alone. — Baltasar Gracian, 1601-1658, Spanish writer 1 likes |
 | One of the symptoms of an approaching nervous breakdown is the belief that one's work is terribly important. — Bertrand Russell, 1872-1970, British philosopher 1 likes |
 | The folly of an old man has the illusion of being wisdom; of an adult, experience; and of a young man, genius. — Nicolas Gomez Davila, 1913-1994, Colombian writer 1 likes |
 | There are certain people to whom one must advise craziness. — Joseph Joubert, 1754-1824, French author of maxims 1 likes |
 | Stupidity often saves a man from going mad. — Oliver W. Holmes Sr., 1809-1894, American writer 1 likes |
| Insanity is often the logic of an accurate mind overtasked. — Oliver W. Holmes Sr., 1809-1894, American writer 1 likes |
 | Beware of being too rational. In the country of the insane, the integrated man doesn’t become king. He gets lynched. — Aldοus Huxley, 1894-1963, English writer 1 likes |
 | Everyone is more or less mad on one point. — Rudyard Kipling, 1865-1936, English writer, Nobel 1907 1 likes |
 | In a mad world it always seems simpler to obey. — Graham Greene, 1904-1991, British writer 1 likes |
 | The duke had a mind that ticked like a clock and, like a clock, it regularly went cuckoo. — Terry Pratchett, 1948-2015, British writer 1 likes |
 | Schizophrenia may be a necessary consequence of literacy. — Marshall McLuhan, 1911-1980, Canadian academic & media theorist 1 likes |
 | Madness, in a higher sense, is the beginning of all wisdom — Hermann Hesse, 1877-1962, German writer, Nobel 1946 1 likes |
 | Make no mistake: peaceful madmen are ahead of the future. — Gabriel Garcia Marquez, 1927-2014, Colombian writer 1 likes |
 | We all talk to ourselves. Those we call mad just talk a little louder. — Marty Rubin, 1930-1994, Canadian gay activist, author & journalist 1 likes |
 | The 2016 presidential campaign is the most severe case of mass psychosis since the Salem witch trials of 1692. — P.J. O’ Rourke, 1947-2022, American columnist & writer 1 likes |
 | Either I've invented a whole new logic or, ahem, I'm not playing with a full deck. — Philip Dick, 1928-1982, American sci-fi writer 1 likes |
| It has been said of dreams that they are a “controlled psychosis,” or, put another way, a psychosis is a dream breaking through during waking hours. — Philip Dick, 1928-1982, American sci-fi writer 1 likes |
| When you are crazy you learn to keep quiet. — Philip Dick, 1928-1982, American sci-fi writer 1 likes |
| It is sometimes an appropriate response to reality to go insane. — Philip Dick, 1928-1982, American sci-fi writer 1 likes |
| It seems, after all that there are no nonpeculiar people. — Saul Bellow, 1914-2005, Canadian-American writer, Nobel 1976 1 likes |
| Men have called me mad; but the question is not yet settled whether madness is or is not the loftiest intelligence. — Edgar Allan Poe, 1809-1849, American writer 1 likes |
| And now have I not told you that what you mistake for madness is but overacuteness of the senses? — Edgar Allan Poe, 1809-1849, American writer 1 likes |
| I was never really insane except upon occasions when my heart was touched. — Edgar Allan Poe, 1809-1849, American writer 1 likes |
| I remained too much inside my head and ended up losing my mind. — Edgar Allan Poe, 1809-1849, American writer 1 likes |
 | It is not the fear of madness that will force us to lower the flag of the imagination. — André Breton, 1896-1966, French writer, founder of Surrealism 1 likes |
| Columbus had to leave with madmen to discover America. And see how this madness has taken shape and duration. — André Breton, 1896-1966, French writer, founder of Surrealism 1 likes |
 | Many homicidal lunatics are very quiet, unassuming people. Delightful fellows. — Agatha Christie, 1890-1976, British writer 1 likes |
 | Mad people = People who stand alone and burn. I'm attracted to them because they give me permission to do the same. — Susan Sontag, 1933-2004, American writer, critic, activist 1 likes |
| Sanity is a cozy lie. — Susan Sontag, 1933-2004, American writer, critic, activist 1 likes |
 | Madness alone is truly terrifying, inasmuch as you cannot placate it by threats, persuasion, or bribes. — Joseph Conrad, 1857-1924, British-Polish writer 1 likes |
 | All are lunatics, but he who can analyze his delusion is called a philosopher. — Ambrose Bierce, 1842–1914, American writer 1 likes |
 | Some people never go crazy. What truly horrible lives they must live. — Charles Bukowski, 1920-1994, American writer 1 likes |
Personal Stories
 | I put my heart and soul into my work, and have lost my mind in the process. — Vincent Van Gogh, 1853-1890, Dutch painter 8 likes |
Quotes in Verse
 | Pardon My Sanity In A World Insane. — Emily Dickinson, 1830-1886, American poet 4 likes |
Funny Quotes
 | I told my psychiatrist that everyone hates me. He said I was being ridiculous, everyone hasn’t met me yet. — Rodney Dangerfield, 1924-2004, American comedian 6 likes |
 | Victor Hugo was a madman who thought he was Victor Hugo. — Jean Cocteau, 1889-1963, French artist 3 likes |
Ancient Greek
 | The madness of love is the greatest of the blessings of the gods. Επ᾽ ευτυχία τη μεγίστη παρά θεών η τοιαύτη μανία [ο έρως] δίδοται. — Plato, 427-347 BC, Ancient Greek philosopher 11 likes |
 | When speaking do not wave your hands about, as it is a sign of craziness. Λέγοντα μη κινείν την χείρα, μανικόν γαρ. — Chilon of Sparta, 6th cent. BC, one of the 7 sages of Ancient Greece 5 likes |
Movie Quotes
 | Damn it boss, I like you too much not to say it. You've got everything except one thing: madness! A man needs a little madness, or else… — from the film Zorba the Greek (1964) 6 likes |
