I am interested in madness. I believe it is the biggest thing in the human race, and the most constant. How do you take away from a man his madness without also taking away his identity? Are we sure it is desirable for a man's spirit not to be at war with itself, or that it is better to be serene and ready to go to dinner than to be excited and unwilling to stop for a cup of coffee, even?
Interpretation
This quote reflects on the relationship between madness and identity, questioning the value of inner conflict versus serenity.
William Saroyan's quote explores the idea that madness, or the turbulent emotions and thoughts within us, significantly shape our identities. He prompts the reader to reconsider whether a peaceful and undisturbed existence is truly desirable over a life filled with passion and conflict, suggesting that our struggles may be essential to who we are as individuals.
In practice
This quote is perfect for a discussion on mental health and the complexities of human identity.
The purpose of writing is both to keep up with life and to run ahead of it. I am little comfort to myself, although I am the only comfort I have, excepting perhaps streets, clouds, the sun, the faces and voices of kids and the aged, and similar accidents of beauty, innocence, truth and loneliness.
San Francisco itself is art, above all literary art. Every block is a short story, every hill a novel. Every home a poem, every dweller within immortal. That is the whole truth.
I care so much about everything that I care about nothing.
Seek goodness everywhere, and when it is found, bring it out of its hiding place and let it be free and unashamed.
It is a pity, in my opinion, that no prize exists for the writer who best refrains from adding to the world's bad books.
Try to be alive. You will be dead soon enough.
Reverence is an attitude of honoring life. _x000D_ Reverence automatically brings forth patience. _x000D_ Reverence permits non-judgemental justice._x000D_ Reverence is a perception of the soul.
The ruling of men is the effort to direct the individual actions of many persons toward some end. This end theoretically should be the greatest good of all, but no human group has ever reached this ideal because of ignorance and selfishness.
If you strive only to avoid the darkness or to cling to the light, you cannot live in balance. Try striving to be conscious of all that you are.
Morality is doing what is right, no matter what you are told. Religion is doing what you are told, no matter what is right.
I'm not a walking extra in a Chekhov play; I'm no Slavic gloom or Irish gloom.
How smooth must be the language of the whites, when they can make right look like wrong, and wrong like right.
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