"It is quite hard at times to distinguish a genius from a lunatic" ~ Dorothy Thompson

"Did the hospital specialize in poets and singers, or was it that poets and singers specialized in madness?" ~ Susanna Kaysen

"Art and Religion are, then, two roads by which men escape from circumstance to ecstasy" ~ Clive Bell

"Some people never go crazy. What horrible lives they must lead" ~ Charles Bukowski

"One has to have a bit of neurosis to go out and be an artist. A balanced human seldom produces art. It's the imbalance which impels us" ~ Beverly Pepper

"The man who fears suffering is already suffering from what he fears" ~ Michel de Montaigne

"Trouble is said to be good for an artist's soul but it almost never is" ~ Rita Mae Brown

"The most beautiful paintings and sculptures. the greatest poetry, have not always been born from torment or bitterness. Often they have sprung from contemplation, from JOY. From an instant of wonder toward all things. To create from joy, to create from wonder, demands a continual discipline, a great compassion. With time and sincerity you will discover a way to work and write that does not harm you spiritually, that does not tempt you to vanity, that is the deepest expression of your spirituality. You will find a voice that is not your voice only, but the voice of reality itself. if you can be empty enough, that voice can speak through you. If you can be humble enough, that voice can inhabit you" ~ Thuksey Rinposche