When dealing with the insane, the best method is to pretend to be sane.
—Hermann Hesse (1877–1962) German-born Swiss Novelist, Poet
Sanity is a cozy lie
—Susan Sontag (1933–2004) American Writer, Philosopher
Today I felt pass over me
A breath of wind from the wings of madness.
—Charles Baudelaire (1821–67) French Poet, Art Critic, Essayist, Translator
The definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over and expecting different results.
—Anonymous
What frightens us most in a madman is his sane conversation.
—Anatole France (1844–1924) French Novelist
A man might pass for insane who should see things as they are.
—William Ellery Channing (1780–1842) American Unitarian Theologian, Poet
No excellent soul is exempt from a mixture of madness.
—Aristotle (384BCE–322BCE) Ancient Greek Philosopher, Scholar
If you are physically sick, you can elicit the interest of a battery of physicians; but if you are mentally sick, you are lucky if the janitor comes around.
—Martin H. Fischer
Sanity is very rare: every man almost, and every woman, has a dash of madness.
—Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803–82) American Philosopher
Are you so unobservant as not to have found out that sanity and happiness are an impossible combination?
—Mark Twain (1835–1910) American Humorist
The statistics on sanity are that one out of every four Americans is suffering from some form of mental illness. Think of your three best friends. If they’re okay, then it’s you.
—Rita Mae Brown (b.1944) American Writer, Feminist
You only require two things in life: your sanity and your wife
—Tony Blair (b.1953) British Statesman
I haven’t lost my mind; I have a tape back-up somewhere.
—Unknown
A man who is “of sound mind” is one who keeps the inner madman under lock and key.
—Paul Valery (1871–1945) French Critic, Poet
Most men are within a finger’s breadth of being mad.
—Diogenes Laertius (f.3rd Century CE) Biographer of the Greek Philosophers
There was never a genius without a tincture of madness.
—Seneca the Younger (Lucius Annaeus Seneca) (c.4 BCE–65 CE) Roman Stoic Philosopher, Statesman, Tragedian
Sanity is madness put to good uses.
—George Santayana (1863–1952) Spanish-American Poet, Philosopher
What sane person could live in this world and not be crazy?
—Ursula K. Le Guin (b.1929) American Science Fiction and Fantasy Writer
If we weren’t all crazy, we would go insane.
—Jimmy Buffett (b.1946) American Musician, Author
There is no insanity so devastating in man’s life as utter sanity.
—William Allen White (1868–1944) American Editor, Politician, Author
I have my own little world, but it’s okay – they know me here.
—Unknown
Sanity: that which is within the frame of reference of conventional thought.
—Erich Fromm (1900–80) German-American Psychoanalyst, Social Philosopher
Show me a sane man and I will cure him for you.
—Carl Gustav Jung (1875–1961) Swiss Psychologist, Psychiatrist, Philosopher
There is a pleasure sure
In being mad which none but madmen know.
—John Dryden (1631–1700) English Poet, Literary Critic, Playwright
There is no great genius without some touch of madness.
—Seneca the Younger (Lucius Annaeus Seneca) (c.4 BCE–65 CE) Roman Stoic Philosopher, Statesman, Tragedian
Every madman thinks all other men mad.
—Latin Proverb
Insanity is often the logic of an accurate mind overtasked. Good mental machinery ought to break its own wheels and levers, if anything is thrust among them suddenly which tends to stop them or reverse their motion. A weak mind does not accumulate force enough to hurt itself; stupidity often saves a man from going mad.
—Oliver Wendell Holmes, Sr. (1809–94) American Physician, Essayist
Madness need not be all breakdown. It may also be break-through. It is potential liberation and renewal as well as enslavement and existential death.
—R. D. Laing (1927–89) Scottish Psychiatrist
A civilized society is one which tolerates eccentricity to the point of doubtful sanity.
—Robert Frost (1874–1963) American Poet
Insanity: A perfectly rational adjustment to an insane world.
—R. D. Laing (1927–89) Scottish Psychiatrist