Quote ensemble on Insanity!
Here are a few of my favorite quotes on Insanity....
a) Insanity: doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results. - Albert Einstein.
b) Love: a temporary insanity, curable by marriage - Ambrose Bierce
c) The distance between insanity and genius is measured only by success - Bruce Feirstein
d) There is no great genius without some touch of madness. - Seneca
e) There's a fine line between genius and insanity. I have erased this line. - Oscar Levant
So, is it worth being insane or freaky? I remember a TP presentation that talks about "Why do I love freaks" and the first & best reason is ...." because when anything interesting happens … it was a freak who did it. (Period.)"
posted by Sriram at 5:19 PM
2 Comments:
Great topic Sriram
Yes of course it is worth being ‘insane’ or ‘freaky’ - we have to be what we are and nothing else. Anita Roddick says something like –‘Love your anarchists - they will save you.’
I love this topic because the ‘line’ between sanity and insanity is drawn only and simply by one’s own perception.
There is a fabulous article called 'On being sane in insane places' – which relates the experiences of about 10 people who pretended to be mentally ill as part of a research project. They found themselves formally diagnosed as mentally ill by Doctors and they were incarcerated in a mental institution – despite the fact they were all very well adjusted people holding down excellent jobs and had no mental illness whatsoever –they ‘acted’ the illness. A fascinating read - I can forward you a copy if you like. If you want more evidence about falsely diagnosed ‘insanity’ you must watch ‘One flew over the cuckoos nest’ if you have not already done so. In my opinion every healthcare member of staff who works in mental illness services should be forced to watch this film in full on the first day they start work – before they meet any patients.
Here is a posting I put on Simplicity back in April this year.
I recall Dave a colleague manager I worked with in healthcare here in the UK 15 years ago. Dave was a keen cyclist and proud owner of an expensive racing bike.
In his first week with us he chained his bike to a radiator in the corridor outside the office of the Chief Executive where we were all gathered for a meeting.
He came into the meeting in his track suit, trainers and sweat band and was carrying a 'Tesco' supermarket bag that contained his paperwork for the meeting.
The rest of us in our smart but boring corporate black suits and ties and immaculate brief cases looked on with interest as you can imagine.
He created quite an impression and stayed with us two years or so till he got fed up with 'stuffiness and rules' and not surprisingly he left.
In those two years however he changed things dramatically and made a real impression. Always challenging the status quo - he made work an interesting place to be. The staff generally loved his 'eccentricity' as they called it - to me it was simply 'pushing the edges.'
I liked Dave - sadly I lost track of him and I sometimes wonder where he is now - probably back packing at 60 years of age across Australia or something similarly interesting whilst most of the 'black suits' are still 'enjoying' writing their boring reports and still towing the corporate line.
By the way ... the Chief Executive was not amused and got the hospital porter to cut the chain and remove the bike.... SAD DON'T YOU THINK?
11:32 PM
Hi Trevor,
Pls pls fwd me a copy of 'On being sane in insane places' - I am waiting to read it. Will definitely mail u my comments once am done reading it. Thanx a ton! I am a firm believer of 'freakiness' and 'insanity' (not in its truest sense BUT in its truest spirit!)
2:55 PM
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