As the clockwork of the millennia moved a notch in front of their eyes, it had taken their thoughts from small things and reminded them of how vulnerable they were to time.
Mark HelprinRead
To be mad is to feel with excruciating intensity the sadness and joy of a time which has not arrived or has already been.
Interpretation
What this quote means
Being mad means experiencing deep emotions about the past or future, rather than the present.
This quote by Mark Helprin reflects on the nature of madness as an overwhelming emotional state where one is not truly present in the moment, but rather consumed by feelings of joy and sadness related to times that have yet to come or have already passed. It suggests that this heightened emotional awareness, while potentially painful, is a profound aspect of the human experience, highlighting our struggles with time and memory.
Themes
MadnessEmotionTimeSadnessJoy
In practice
Example use cases
During a speech about creativity and madness in art, this quote can illustrate how artists often feel profoundly connected to different times.
More from Mark Helprin
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Youβll join me sooner than you know in a place with . . . no illusions, where the truth is the only architecture, the only color, the only sound--where that which we sense merely on occasion, and which takes us up and gives us the rare and beautiful glimpses of the things we truly love, flows in deep rivers and tumbles about like clouds in the sky.
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Perhaps things are most beautiful when they are not quite real; when you look upon a scene as an outsider, and come to possess it in its entirety and forever; when you live in the present with the lucidity and feeling of memory; when, for want of connection, the world deepens and becomes art.
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The horse could not do without Manhattan. It drew him like a magnet, like a vacuum, like oats, or a mare, or an open, never-ending, tree-lined road.
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