--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: You thought I was mad. Perhaps I was…" description: "\"“You thought I was mad. Perhaps I was. Perhaps I am. It doesn't make for sanity, does it, living with the devil.”\" — Daphne du Maurier" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/17e/daphne-du-maurier-1185_mad_you-thought-i-was-mad-perhaps-i-was-perh_121943.png" --- # You thought I was mad. Perhaps I was. Perhaps I am. It… ![“You thought I was mad. Perhaps I was. Perhaps I am. It doesn't make for sanity, does it, living with the devil.” quote by Daphne du Maurier](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/17e/daphne-du-maurier-1185_mad_you-thought-i-was-mad-perhaps-i-was-perh_121943.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/17e/daphne-du-maurier-1185_mad_you-thought-i-was-mad-perhaps-i-was-perh_121943.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/17e/daphne-du-maurier-1185_mad_you-thought-i-was-mad-perhaps-i-was-perh_121943.png) > ““You thought I was mad. Perhaps I was. Perhaps I am. It doesn't make for sanity, does it, living with the devil.”” [Daphne du Maurier](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/daphne-du-maurier/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. The speaker questions their sanity while living with a destructive force, suggesting that coexistence with malevolence erodes mental stability. **In simple terms:** Living with evil challenges sanity. Key Takeaway Malevolence destabilizes the mind. Themes psychology evil sanity existential Mood somber introspective Type literary quote existential reflection When to use this quote - toxic relationships - authoritarian workplaces - war zones Key Concepts inner conflict moral ambiguity Practical Applications - Establish boundaries with harmful influences - Seek supportive communities Questions to Reflect On - What does ‘living with the devil’ symbolize for you? - Can sanity be preserved amid persistent negativity? A Different Perspective Emphasizing madness may romanticize suffering rather than encouraging healthy disengagement. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Sanity](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/sanity/) ## Related quotes > [It wouldn't make for sanity would it, living with the devil.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/daphne-du-maurier/it-wouldn-t-make-for-sanity-would-it-living-with-the-devil/) [Daphne du Maurier](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/daphne-du-maurier/) > [Madness is terrific I can assure you, and not to be sniffed at; and in its lava I still find most of the things…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/virginia-woolf/madness-is-terrific-i-can-assure-you-and-not-to-be-sniffed-at-and-in/) [Virginia Woolf](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/virginia-woolf/) > [I rather be young and live for god rather then being young and living for the devil.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/i-rather-be-young-and-live-for-god-rather-then-being-young-and-living/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [We're living in a system that the devil designed, and suffering from this devil's most heinous crime. He's tried to keep us from the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/prince/we-re-living-in-a-system-that-the-devil-designed-and-suffering-from/) [Prince](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/prince/) > [Like all mad men, I thought everyone was mad except myself.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/leo-tolstoy/like-all-mad-men-i-thought-everyone-was-mad-except-myself/) [Leo Tolstoy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/leo-tolstoy/) > [“No more tears, Rose. I’m here. I’ll protect you." “I thought you were mad at me." “Don’t be silly. How could I be mad…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alexandra-may/no-more-tears-rose-i-m-here-i-ll-protect-you-i-thought-you-were-mad/) [Alexandra May](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alexandra-may/) > [“He knew what the others thought of him. They thought him mad. Well, perhaps they were right. Brandt was mad. Well and truly mad.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/abigail-roux/he-knew-what-the-others-thought-of-him-they-thought-him-mad-well/) [Abigail Roux](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/abigail-roux/) > [“As I ran, I fixed my hat back on my head and thought, The Mad Hatter. After all this time . . . . . . finally”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tillie-cole/as-i-ran-i-fixed-my-hat-back-on-my-head-and-thought-the-mad-hatter/) [Tillie Cole](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tillie-cole/) > [“I couldn't imagine it, living a pristine life in this big Georgian house and everything. It seemed heinous. So I left him. I thought…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sarah-rayner/i-couldn-t-imagine-it-living-a-pristine-life-in-this-big-georgian/) [Sarah Rayner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sarah-rayner/) > [“If someone had told her that she would be transported to what was for all purposes a magical land, where history could be rewritten…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tad-williams/if-someone-had-told-her-that-she-would-be-transported-to-what-was-for/) [Tad Williams](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tad-williams/) > [I do think that my Indian classical audiences thought I was sacrificing them through working with George; I became known as the 'fifth Beatle.'…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ravi-shankar/i-do-think-that-my-indian-classical-audiences-thought-i-was/) [Ravi Shankar](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ravi-shankar/) > [“It was like trying to balance on a pair of knife blades. Who had thought of this mad form of travel in the first…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tamora-pierce/it-was-like-trying-to-balance-on-a-pair-of-knife-blades-who-had/) [Tamora Pierce](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tamora-pierce/) > [“Some day I must make a list of the reasons for which I have been thought mad and by whom: it would make such…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jane-fletcher-geniesse/some-day-i-must-make-a-list-of-the-reasons-for-which-i-have-been/) [Jane Fletcher Geniesse](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jane-fletcher-geniesse/) > [I'm learning in my old age that the only thing you can do to keep your sanity is to stay in the moment.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/willem-dafoe/i-m-learning-in-my-old-age-that-the-only-thing-you-can-do-to-keep/) [Willem Dafoe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/willem-dafoe/) > [If you have never lost your sanity, then you have never been in love.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/if-you-have-never-lost-your-sanity-then-you-have-never-been-in-love/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) ## More by Daphne du Maurier > [He lacked tenderness; he was rude; and he had more than a streak of cruelty in him; he was a thief and a liar.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/daphne-du-maurier/he-lacked-tenderness-he-was-rude-and-he-had-more-than-a-streak-of/) [Daphne du Maurier](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/daphne-du-maurier/) > [“You understand now... how simple life becomes when things like mirrors are forgotten.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/daphne-du-maurier/you-understand-now-how-simple-life-becomes-when-things-like-mirrors/) [Daphne du Maurier](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/daphne-du-maurier/) > [I could fight with the living but I could not fight the dead. If there was some woman in London that Maxim loved, someone…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/daphne-du-maurier/i-could-fight-with-the-living-but-i-could-not-fight-the-dead-if-there/) [Daphne du Maurier](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/daphne-du-maurier/) > [It wouldn't make for sanity would it, living with the devil.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/daphne-du-maurier/it-wouldn-t-make-for-sanity-would-it-living-with-the-devil/) [Daphne du Maurier](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/daphne-du-maurier/) > [“The only time I got into trouble was when I forged M's signature on the weekly report we had to take home every Friday…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/daphne-du-maurier/the-only-time-i-got-into-trouble-was-when-i-forged-m-s-signature-on/) [Daphne du Maurier](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/daphne-du-maurier/) > [“They are not brave, the days when we are twenty-one. They are full of little cowardices, little fears without foundation, and one is so…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/daphne-du-maurier/they-are-not-brave-the-days-when-we-are-twenty-one-they-are-full-of/) [Daphne du Maurier](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/daphne-du-maurier/) > [Women want love to be a novel, men a short story.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/daphne-du-maurier/women-want-love-to-be-a-novel-men-a-short-story/) [Daphne du Maurier](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/daphne-du-maurier/) > [“We all of us have our particular devil who ruses us and torments us, and we must give battle in the end.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/daphne-du-maurier/we-all-of-us-have-our-particular-devil-who-ruses-us-and-torments-us/) [Daphne du Maurier](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/daphne-du-maurier/) > [“Happy in his silence yet eager for his words.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/daphne-du-maurier/happy-in-his-silence-yet-eager-for-his-words/) [Daphne du Maurier](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/daphne-du-maurier/) > [“There have been men in arid deserts where the sun has so disfigured them that they have become things of horror – parched and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/daphne-du-maurier/there-have-been-men-in-arid-deserts-where-the-sun-has-so-disfigured/) [Daphne du Maurier](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/daphne-du-maurier/) > [“Packing up. The nagging worry of departure. When shutting drawers and flinging wide an hotel wardrobe, or the impersonal shelves of a furnished villa,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/daphne-du-maurier/packing-up-the-nagging-worry-of-departure-when-shutting-drawers-and/) [Daphne du Maurier](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/daphne-du-maurier/) > [“And perhaps one day, in after years, someone would wander there and listen to the silence, as she had done, and catch the whisper…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/daphne-du-maurier/and-perhaps-one-day-in-after-years-someone-would-wander-there-and/) [Daphne du Maurier](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/daphne-du-maurier/) > [“many impressions to seize and hold, familiar loved façades, balconies, windows, water lapping the cellar steps of decaying palaces, the little red house where…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/daphne-du-maurier/many-impressions-to-seize-and-hold-familiar-loved-fa-ades-balconies/) [Daphne du Maurier](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/daphne-du-maurier/) > [People who travel are always fugitives.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/daphne-du-maurier/people-who-travel-are-always-fugitives/) [Daphne du Maurier](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/daphne-du-maurier/) > [“They were all fitting into place, the jig-saw pieces. The odd strained shapes that I had tried to piece together with my fumbling fingers…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/daphne-du-maurier/they-were-all-fitting-into-place-the-jig-saw-pieces-the-odd-strained/) [Daphne Du Maurier](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/daphne-du-maurier/) [Explore all 269 Daphne du Maurier quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/daphne-du-maurier/) ## More Mad quotes > ['Mad TV' is one of my most favorite shows of all time and is a huge part of my obsession with sketch comedy.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/shane-dawson/mad-tv-is-one-of-my-most-favorite-shows-of-all-time-and-is-a-huge/) [Shane Dawson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/shane-dawson/) > [I was interested in all kinds of things, whether it be Avatar, Mad Men, Troy, 300, Battlestar Gallactica, or the poems of Horace and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/daniel-mendelsohn/i-was-interested-in-all-kinds-of-things-whether-it-be-avatar-mad-men/) [Daniel Mendelsohn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/daniel-mendelsohn/) > [I've always been a very restless person. I work hard, spend too much time looking after my son, I dance like a mad thing,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paulo-coelho/i-ve-always-been-a-very-restless-person-i-work-hard-spend-too-much/) [Paulo Coelho](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paulo-coelho/) > [Not everyone is capable of madness; and of those lucky enough to be capable, not many have the courage for it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/august-strindberg/not-everyone-is-capable-of-madness-and-of-those-lucky-enough-to-be/) [August Strindberg](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/august-strindberg/) > [Sometimes I am a collector of data, and only a collector, and am likely to be gross and miserly, piling up notes, pleased with…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-fort/sometimes-i-am-a-collector-of-data-and-only-a-collector-and-am-likely/) [Charles Fort](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-fort/) > [You get those hunger pains. 'I am so hungry. We don't have any food. What are we going to eat?' Your stomach hurts. Then…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ben-mclemore/you-get-those-hunger-pains-i-am-so-hungry-we-don-t-have-any-food-what/) [Ben McLemore](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ben-mclemore/) > [My life always came first. When I got nominated for Diary of a Mad Housewife, I didn't think, 'Aah, now I'll get more money.'…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carrie-snodgress/my-life-always-came-first-when-i-got-nominated-for-diary-of-a-mad/) [Carrie Snodgress](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carrie-snodgress/) > [I'm not mad at digital media at all; I just see the importance and beauty of physical media.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/el-p/i-m-not-mad-at-digital-media-at-all-i-just-see-the-importance-and/) [El-P](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/el-p/) > [The planet's survival has become so uncertain that any effort, any thought that presupposes an assured future amounts to a mad gamble.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elias-canetti/the-planet-s-survival-has-become-so-uncertain-that-any-effort-any/) [Elias Canetti](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elias-canetti/) > [Most men are secretly still mad at their mothers for throwing away their comic books. They would be valuable now.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rita-rudner/most-men-are-secretly-still-mad-at-their-mothers-for-throwing-away/) [Rita Rudner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rita-rudner/) > [Your eyes are closed in hell and you haven't even opened them to see heaven.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/your-eyes-are-closed-in-hell-and-you-haven-t-even-opened-them-to-see/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [You see all of us go through the same doubts. We are afraid of being mad; unfortunately for us, of course, all of us…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carlos-castaneda/you-see-all-of-us-go-through-the-same-doubts-we-are-afraid-of-being/) [Carlos Castaneda](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carlos-castaneda/) > [I don't think you can ever get used to being this famous. I've learnt how to keep things separate or at a distance. I've…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/harry-styles/i-don-t-think-you-can-ever-get-used-to-being-this-famous-i-ve-learnt/) [Harry Styles](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/harry-styles/) > [Mothers." The man made a word sound like a curse. "I think birthing does something to your minds. You are all mad.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/mothers-the-man-made-a-word-sound-like-a-curse-i-think-birthing-does/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [Helen Hunt is terrific, and I got to do a couple of guest spots with Helen and Paul Reiser on 'Mad About You.'](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lyle-lovett/helen-hunt-is-terrific-and-i-got-to-do-a-couple-of-guest-spots-with/) [Lyle Lovett](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lyle-lovett/) Browse all 2,874 Mad quotes ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“You thought I was mad. Perhaps I was. Perhaps I am. It doesn't make for sanity, does it, living with the devil.”", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Daphne du Maurier" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/daphne-du-maurier/you-thought-i-was-mad-perhaps-i-was-perhaps-i-am-it-doesn-t-make-for/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Mad" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/daphne-du-maurier/you-thought-i-was-mad-perhaps-i-was-perhaps-i-am-it-doesn-t-make-for/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/17e/daphne-du-maurier-1185_mad_you-thought-i-was-mad-perhaps-i-was-perh_121943.png", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/17e/daphne-du-maurier-1185_mad_you-thought-i-was-mad-perhaps-i-was-perh_121943.png", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/17e/daphne-du-maurier-1185_mad_you-thought-i-was-mad-perhaps-i-was-perh_121943.png", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“You thought I was mad. Perhaps I was. Perhaps I am. It doesn't make for sanity, does it, living with the…” — Daphne du Maurier", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } }, { "@type": "BreadcrumbList", "itemListElement": [ { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 1, "name": "Home", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 2, "name": "Quotes", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 3, "name": "Daphne du Maurier", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/daphne-du-maurier/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "“You thought I was mad. Perhaps...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/daphne-du-maurier/you-thought-i-was-mad-perhaps-i-was-perhaps-i-am-it-doesn-t-make-for/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/daphne-du-maurier/you-thought-i-was-mad-perhaps-i-was-perhaps-i-am-it-doesn-t-make-for/#breadcrumb" }, { "@type": "WebSite", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "publisher": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } }, { "@type": "Organization", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "logo": { "@type": "ImageObject", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/themes/sq/assets/icons/icon-512.png", "width": 512, "height": 512 } } ] } ```