Madness Genius Quotes & Sayings

Anyway, madness and genius. They're the disturbed pals of the human condition. The Bonnie and Clyde, the Thelma and Louise, the baking soda and vinegar. Insanity just walks alongside the brilliant like some creepy, insistent shadow. — Deb Caletti

I have never seen genius without a touch of madness ... and vice versa. — Lance Conrad

It is almost impossible to be a doctor and an honest man, but it is obscenely impossible to be a psychiatrist without at the same time bearing the stamp of the most incontestable madness: that of being unable to resist that old atavistic reflex of the mass of humanity, which makes any man of science who is absorbed by this mass a kind of natural and inborn enemy of all genius. — Antonin Artaud

Madness is just what a genius looks like to a tiny mind. — Steven Moffat

No great genius has ever existed without some touch of madness — Aristotle.

If every Genius has a touch of Madness, does every Normal person have a touch of Ignorance ? — Stanley Victor Paskavich

My girl was mad and I loved her. Upon a night, she read my poetry; and kissing me madly she cried, 'You are a genius, my love!' To which I replied, 'My girl,' whispering, 'Every doctor in this land with a prescription pad is more of a genius than I. — Roman Payne

Genius has to pass over madness and madness over genius — Salvador Dali

To be sucked down by this whirling stream is to fall into abysses of madness, more frightful than those of death; to expel the shades of this chaos and compel it to give perfect forms to our thoughts - this is to be a man of genius; it is to create, it is to be victorious over hell! The — Eliphas Levi

Some were brilliant bordering on genius. Others, genius bordering on madness — Erich Segal

During the Renaissance there was a renewed interest in the relationship between genius, melancholia, and madness. A stronger distinction was made between sane melancholies of high achievement and individuals whose insanity prevented them from using their ability. The eighteenth century witnessed a sharp change in attitude; balance and rational thought, rather than "inspiration" and emotional extremes, were seen as the primary components of genius. — Kay Redfield Jamison

Children inherit their parents' madness. — Gabriel Garcia Marquez

Within obsession lies madness and genius — Andy Merrick

There is no great genius without a tincture of madness. — Seneca.

Long ago, Sir Isaac Newton gave us three laws of motion, which were the work of genius. But Sir Isaac's talents didn't extend to investing: He lost a bundle in the South Sea Bubble, explaining later, I can calculate the movement of the stars, but not the madness of men. If he had not been traumatized by this loss, Sir Isaac might well have gone on to discover the Fourth Law of Motion: For investors as a whole, returns decrease as motion increases. — Warren Buffett

Genius and madness have something in common: both live in a world that is different from that which exists for everyone else. — Arthur Schopenhauer

Within the universe of the extraordinary, those qualities we designate to human concepts of gender are often shared, exchanged, or even completely obliterated. Because of this mixture of traits, these twins called Genius and Madness often appear to be the same thing. They both have a tendency to blur the lines of what we call norms, or established reality. They both, when we study that grand tapestry known as history and modern-day society, tend to stand out in much bolder relief than other figures.
from Dancing with Madness, Dancing with Genius — Aberjhani

Psychiatry's a young science. Yesterday's madman may be tomorrow's genius. Beethoven and Van Gogh were both a bit loopy. In my view, most madmen are remarkable. They're explorers, travelers beyond the rim of consciousness. Not surprising if they pick up a few bugs and get sick. That's all it is, madness. Mad just means sick. If you get fluid on the lungs it's pleurisy. If it's fluid on the brain, it's insanity. — Clare Boylan

A person who exchanged his reason for genius has no meaning. God is unfair, but only this unfairness is unacceptable. If you add genius as an advantage to madness as a disadvantage, you will get a maximum of disadvantage. — Tooru Hayama

Obsessive devotion to creating can spark that which is called 'genius.' Smarter or more gifted? The 'madness' is the insatiable drive to discover, achieve and create. Monomania can develop into 'genius,' as the individual delves deeper into the process leaving normal parameters behind. — Paul Russo

Fortunately we have learnt to combine these ideas, not in the mutual toleration of sub-contraries, but in the affirmation of contraries, that transcending of the laws of intellect which is madness in the ordinary man, genius in the Overman who hath arrived to strike off more fetters from our understanding. — Aleister Crowley

Madness in method, that's genius — Frank Herbert

He smiled grimly, though there was no glee in it, as though for once he understood how heartbreaking this was for me. 'No serum can change who you are. Nor should you change. Genius or madness-it all depends on who's telling the story.' His hand stopped tapping, and that humanity flickered again in his eye. 'You're perfect as you are, my love. — Megan Shepherd

Creation is messy. You want genius, you get madness; two sides of the same coin. — Steve Jobs

A possible link between 'madness' and genius is one of the oldest and most persistent of cultural notions. — Kay Redfield Jamison

No great mind has ever existed without a touch of madness. — Aristotle.

Genius - the pursuit of madness. — Criss Jami

There has never been any great genius without a spice of madness. — Seneca The Younger

The fine line between genius and madness is a punch line. Duck, you idiot! — Brian Spellman

Tamas had heard that every genius was equal parts madness. He — Brian McClellan

Obsession is the wellspring of genius and madness. — Michel De Montaigne

There is no great genius without tincture of madness. — Seneca.

The line between genius and madness is so very thin. — Elise Kova

There is no great genius without a mixture of madness — Aristotle.

This was a family that consumed attractive, talented people. Its aim was to preserve beauty and genius through the centuries. For all eternity. To bottle the spark of magic that flares up in the soul of an artist, to preserve in wax the pain that is born in the heart of an actor, to dry and store the subtle, shifting images that hover above the head of a writer.

Madness. They didn't realize it was impossible. As the years pass by, feelings and emotions are blunted. And thousands of years of life kill all feelings. The soul becomes cold. It can't burn anymore. The farys took away from humans the one thing that I sought and valued in them most of all - their bright, vital feelings. — Lena Meydan

There was some simple, radical difference about him. He hoped it was genius, feared it was madness, devoted himself to amiability and inconspicuousness. — John Barth

When your efforts run in the face of conventional wisdom and accepted mastery, persistence can look like madness. If you succeed in the end, this extreme originality reformulates into a new level of mastery, sometimes even genius; if you fail in the end, you remain a madman in the eyes of others, and maybe even yourself. When you are in the midst of the journey ... there's really no way of knowing which one you are. (p.129) — Hilary Austen

When it fails, they do call it madness, Lazarus. But when it succeeds, they call it genius. — Erika Johansen

Madness is what genius looks like to a small mind — Steven Moffat

Oh! how near are genius and madness! Men imprison them and chain them, or raise statues to them. — Denis Diderot

The genius which runs to madness is no longer genius. — Otto Weininger

There was never a great genius without a touch of madness. — Ben Jonson

He was a young man of savage & unexpected originality, a diseased genius & quite frankly, a mad genius. Imbeciles grow insane & in their insanity the imbecility remains stagnant or agitated; in the madness of a man of genius some genius often remains: the form & not the quality of intelligence has been affected; the fruit has been bruised in the fall, but has preserved all its perfume & all the savor of its pulp, hardly too ripe. — Remy De Gourmont

On the other hand, I must mention that, by a diligent search in lunatic asylums, I have found individual cases of patients who where unquestionably endowed with great talents, and whose genius distinctly appeared through their madness, which, however, had completely gained the upper hand. — Arthur Schopenhauer

There is no element of genius without some form of madness. — Leonardo DiCaprio

Madness and genius are two sides to the same coin. — John Hendy

Imperfection is beauty, madness is genius and it's better to be absolutely ridiculous than absolutely boring. — Marilyn Monroe

Between genius and madness there is often not the thickness of a hair. — George Sand

Saying that a great genius is mad, while at the same time recognizing his artistic worth, is like saying that he had rheumatism or suffered from diabetes. Madness, in fact, is a medical term that can claim no more notice from the objective critic than he grants the charge of heresy raised by the theologian, or the charge of immorality raised by the police. — James Joyce

Great minds that are healthy are never considered geniuses, while this sublime qualification is lavished on brains that are often inferior but are slightly touched by madness. — Guy De Maupassant

The concept of genius as akin to madness has been carefully cultivated by the inferiority complex of the public. — Ezra Pound

When people speak of the borderline between genius and madness, why is it so evident what they mean? — James Gleick

At the edge of madness you howl diamonds and pearls. — Aberjhani

But mathematics is the sister, as well as the servant, of the arts and is touched by the same madness and genius. — Marston Morse

There is no great genius without some touch of madness. — Seneca.

Allan admitted that the difference between madness and genius was subtle, and that he couldn't with certainty say which it was in this case, but that he had his suspicions. — Jonas Jonasson

Every great genius has an admixture of madness. — Aristotle.

Eccentricity is not, as some would believe, a form of madness. It is often a kind of innocent pride, and the man of genius and the aristocrat are frequently regarded as eccentrics because genius and aristocrat are entirely unafraid of and uninfluenced by the opinions and vagaries of the crowd. — Edith Sitwell

She didn't need ordnance; she needed someone who could work around the problem. And that left her the single undead general in the Kel Arsenal, the madman who slept in the black cradle until the Nirai technicians could discover what had triggered his madness and how to cure him. Shuos Jedao, the Immolation Fox: genius, arch-traitor, and mass murderer. — Yoon Ha Lee

I wonder if every genius has a touch of madness, does everyone that's normal have a touch or retardation? — Stanley Victor Paskavich

There is no genius free from some tincture of madness — Seneca The Younger

He's no idiot, in fact he's a genius... and that's as far from an idiot as you can get without reaching madness. — Mike Judge

Commonsense has trampled down many a gentle genius whose eyes had delighted in a too early moonbeam of some too early truth; commonsense has back-kicked dirt at the loveliest of queer paintings because a blue tree seemed madness to its well-meaning hoof; commonsense has prompted ugly but strong nations to crush their fair but frail neighbors the moment a gap in history offered a chance that it would have been ridiculous not to exploit. — Vladimir Nabokov

Apophenia means finding pattern or meaning where others don't. Feelings of revelation and ecstasies usually accompany it. It has some negative connotations in psychological terminology when it implies finding meaning or pattern where none exists; and some positive ones when it implies finding something important, useful or beautiful. It thus links creativity and psychosis, genius and madness. — Peter J. Carroll

Often-times it's madness, not genius that moves the world forward. Who else but the mad would reach so far, stretching for the impossible and, in so doing, prove the impossible possible! — James Rollins

I would still work with Mel Gibson! He's talented, man! Come on, he came up with 'Apocalypto,' man! I want to work with this guy. I've worked with Steven Seagal. He's out of his mind. I mean, I've worked with Spike Lee for four films. I've worked with some people that you can say are right there teetering between genius and madness. — Isaiah Washington

There is in the DNA of the Italians a bit of madness, which in the overwhelming majority of cases is positive. It is genius. It is talent. It's the masterpieces of art. It's the food, fashion, everything that makes Italy great in the world. — Matteo Renzi

Madness, genius, originality - it's all the same thing; it's a breaking of our normal value structure and the substitution of another one. — Malcolm Bradbury

To build a city where it is impossible to build a city is madness in itself, but to build there one of the most elegant and grandest of cities is the madness of genius. — Alexander Herzen

Genius lives only one storey above madness — Arthur Schopenhauer

No serum can change who you are. Nor should you change. Genius or madness- it all depends on who's telling the story. — Megan Shepherd

Appalachia is still, for American musicians, a kind of fountain of youth we always go back to, the old home place to a group of artists who represent the quintessence of American independence, fortitude, genius, and madness. — Paul Burch