There is a woe that is wisdom, a woe that is madness.

—Herman Melville

wisdom sadness sanity woe madness

About Herman Melville

Portrait of Herman Melville

Herman Melville (born Melvill; August 1, 1819 – September 28, 1891) was an American writer of the American Renaissance period. Among his best-known works are Moby-Dick (1851), Typee (1846), a romanticized account of his experiences in Polynesia, and Billy Budd, Sailor, a posthumously published novella. At the time of his...

More quotations from Herman Melville

The most important work you and I will ever do will be within the walls of our own homes.

—Herman Melville

Of all the preposterous assumptions of humanity over humanity, nothing exceeds most of the criticisms made on the habits of the poor by the well-housed, well-warmed, and well-fed.

—Herman Melville

We cannot live only for ourselves. A thousand fibers connect us with our fellow men.

—Herman Melville

others self connection

Art is the objectification of feeling.

—Herman Melville

A man thinks that by mouthing hard words he understands hard things.

—Herman Melville

action speech complexity

More quotations tagged with “madness”

If this be not love, it is madness, and then it is pardonable.

—William Congreve

Love is a temporary madness; it erupts like volcanoes and then subsides. And when it subsides you have to make a decision. You have to work out whether your roots have so entwined together that it is inconceivable that you should ever part. Because this is what love is. Love is not breathlessness, it is not excitement, it is not the promulgation of eternal passion. That is just being in love, which any fool can do. Love itself is what is left over when being in love has burned away, and this is both an art and a fortunate accident. Those that truly love have roots that grow towards each other underground, and when all the pretty blossoms have fallen from their branches, they find that they are one tree and not two.

—Louis de Bernières in Captain Corelli's Mandolin

love madness entwined

There is always some madness in love. But there is also always some reason in madness.

—Friedrich Nietzsche

love reason madness

Without meaning to belittle the wonders of science, I do not think they can absolve mankind of suffering, desire, madness, and death.

—Lewis H. Lapham

science death suffering desire madness

Correct me if I'm wrong, but hasn't the fine line between sanity and madness gotten finer?

—George Price

wrong sanity madness

History

12 Apr 2014 Added