--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: I have often started off on a walk in the…" description: "\"I have often started off on a walk in the state called mad-mad in the sense of sore-headed, or mad with tedium or confusion; I have set forth dull, nul..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/6a6/donald-c-peattie-32821_confusion_i-have-often-started-off-on-a-walk-in-th_1540414.png" --- # I have often started off on a walk in the state called… ![“I have often started off on a walk in the state called mad-mad in the sense of sore-headed, or mad with tedium or confusion; I have set forth dull, null and even thoroughly discouraged. But I never came back in such a frame of mind, and I never met a human being whose humor was not the better for…” quote by Donald C. Peattie](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/6a6/donald-c-peattie-32821_confusion_i-have-often-started-off-on-a-walk-in-th_1540414.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/6a6/donald-c-peattie-32821_confusion_i-have-often-started-off-on-a-walk-in-th_1540414.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/6a6/donald-c-peattie-32821_confusion_i-have-often-started-off-on-a-walk-in-th_1540414.png) > “I have often started off on a walk in the state called mad-mad in the sense of sore-headed, or mad with tedium or confusion; I have set forth dull, null and even thoroughly discouraged. But I never came back in such a frame of mind, and I never met a human being whose humor was not the better for a walk.” [Donald C. Peattie](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/donald-c-peattie/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Walking can lift a low mood and improve perspective, making humor and optimism easier to find. **In simple terms:** Walks improve mood and humor. Key Takeaway Take a walk when feeling down. Themes mental health humor perspective Mood uplifting reflective Type advice inspirational When to use this quote - stress relief - creative thinking - social interaction Key Concepts psychology well‑being mindfulness Questions to Reflect On - How does movement change your thoughts? - Can a walk replace other coping strategies? A Different Perspective A walk may not fix deep problems, only temporary mood. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Confusion](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/confusion/) [Frame of mind](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/frame-of-mind/) [Human beings](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/human-beings/) [Humans](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/humans/) [Mind](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/mind/) [Tedium](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/tedium/) ## Related quotes > [“I once started out to walk around the world but ended up with you. Thank God.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/whitney-otto/i-once-started-out-to-walk-around-the-world-but-ended-up-with-you/) [Whitney Otto](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/whitney-otto/) > [I once started out to walk around the world but ended up in Brooklyn, that Bridge was too much for me.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lawrence-ferlinghetti/i-once-started-out-to-walk-around-the-world-but-ended-up-in-brooklyn/) [Lawrence Ferlinghetti](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lawrence-ferlinghetti/) > [The biggest effect celebrity had on me was that I stopped being open and receptive and started to walk around with my head down.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-schwimmer/the-biggest-effect-celebrity-had-on-me-was-that-i-stopped-being-open/) [David Schwimmer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-schwimmer/) > [“Goodnight!" She started her walk. Then she seemed to remember something and came back to look at him with wonder and curiosity. "Are you…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ray-bradbury/goodnight-she-started-her-walk-then-she-seemed-to-remember-something/) [Ray Bradbury](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ray-bradbury/) > [“They called me mad, and I called them mad, and damn them, they outvoted me.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nathaniel-lee/they-called-me-mad-and-i-called-them-mad-and-damn-them-they-outvoted/) Nathaniel Lee > [The truth is, I was D.J.-ing on my college radio station in 1987, and I was called 'Mad Marj.'](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marjorie-gubelmann/the-truth-is-i-was-d-j-ing-on-my-college-radio-station-in-1987-and-i/) [Marjorie Gubelmann](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marjorie-gubelmann/) > [Men have called me mad; but the question is not yet settled, whether madness is or is not the loftiest intelligence– whether much that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edgar-allan-poe/men-have-called-me-mad-but-the-question-is-not-yet-settled-whether-2/) [Edgar Allan Poe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edgar-allan-poe/) > [Whatever the scientists may come up with, writers and artists will continue to portray altered mental states, simply because few aspects of our nature…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/margaret-atwood/whatever-the-scientists-may-come-up-with-writers-and-artists-will/) [Margaret Atwood](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/margaret-atwood/) > [Its not called showing off; its called you being mad cause you cant do it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/its-not-called-showing-off-its-called-you-being-mad-cause-you-cant-do/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [Men have called me mad; but the question is not yet settled, whether madness is or is not the loftiest intelligence.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edgar-allan-poe/men-have-called-me-mad-but-the-question-is-not-yet-settled-whether/) [Edgar Allan Poe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edgar-allan-poe/) > [“I finally understood why he was called Mad Rogan. It wasn’t because he was insane. It was because he drove you nuts with sheer…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ilona-andrews/i-finally-understood-why-he-was-called-mad-rogan-it-wasn-t-because-he/) [Ilona Andrews](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ilona-andrews/) > [Due to the oath I swore to the constitution when I enlisted in the United States Marine Corps, by virtue of the universal human…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/adam-kokesh/due-to-the-oath-i-swore-to-the-constitution-when-i-enlisted-in-the/) Adam Kokesh > [And don't tell me there isn't one bit of difference between null and space, because that's exactly how much difference there is.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/larry-wall/and-don-t-tell-me-there-isn-t-one-bit-of-difference-between-null-and/) [Larry Wall](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/larry-wall/) > [Mathematics can remove no prejudices and soften no obduracy. It has no influence in sweetening the bitter strife of parties, and in the moral…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/johann-wolfgang-von-goethe/mathematics-can-remove-no-prejudices-and-soften-no-obduracy-it-has-no/) [Johann Wolfgang von Goethe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/johann-wolfgang-von-goethe/) > [All religious vows, codes, and commitments are null & void herein. Please refrain from contaminating the ideosphere with harmful memes through prayer, reverence, holy…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/greg-erwin/all-religious-vows-codes-and-commitments-are-null-void-herein-please/) Greg Erwin ## More by Donald C. Peattie > [The Grand Canyon is carven deep by the master hand; it is the gulf of silence, widened in the desert; it is all time…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/donald-c-peattie/the-grand-canyon-is-carven-deep-by-the-master-hand-it-is-the-gulf-of/) [Donald C. Peattie](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/donald-c-peattie/) > [Life is a phenomenon sui generis, a primal fact in its own right, like energy. Cut flesh or wood how you like, hack at…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/donald-c-peattie/life-is-a-phenomenon-sui-generis-a-primal-fact-in-its-own-right-like/) [Donald C. Peattie](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/donald-c-peattie/) > [As the brain of man is the speck of dust in the universe that thinks, so the leaves—the fern and the needled pine and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/donald-c-peattie/as-the-brain-of-man-is-the-speck-of-dust-in-the-universe-that-thinks/) [Donald C. Peattie](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/donald-c-peattie/) > [The harvest moon has no innocence, like the slim quarter moon of a spring twilight, nor has it the silver penny brilliance of the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/donald-c-peattie/the-harvest-moon-has-no-innocence-like-the-slim-quarter-moon-of-a/) [Donald C. Peattie](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/donald-c-peattie/) > [Time is not money; time is an opportunity to live before you die. So a man who walks, and lives and sees and thinks…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/donald-c-peattie/time-is-not-money-time-is-an-opportunity-to-live-before-you-die-so-a/) [Donald C. Peattie](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/donald-c-peattie/) > [A thing is either alive or it isn’t; there is nothing that is almost alive. There is but the remotest possibility of the origin…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/donald-c-peattie/a-thing-is-either-alive-or-it-isn-t-there-is-nothing-that-is-almost/) [Donald C. Peattie](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/donald-c-peattie/) > [There are always some of us, not a few, in every generation, who go over wholly to the green flag. It is such a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/donald-c-peattie/there-are-always-some-of-us-not-a-few-in-every-generation-who-go-over/) [Donald C. Peattie](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/donald-c-peattie/) > [What is a weed? I have heard it said that there are sixty definitions. For me, a weed is a plant out of place.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/donald-c-peattie/what-is-a-weed-i-have-heard-it-said-that-there-are-sixty-definitions/) [Donald C. Peattie](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/donald-c-peattie/) > [A word, a smile, and the stranger at your elbow may become an interesting friend. All through life we deny ourselves stimulating fellowship because…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/donald-c-peattie/a-word-a-smile-and-the-stranger-at-your-elbow-may-become-an/) [Donald C. Peattie](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/donald-c-peattie/) > [The last fling of winter is over ... The earth, the soil itself, has a dreaming quality about it. It is warm now to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/donald-c-peattie/the-last-fling-of-winter-is-over-the-earth-the-soil-itself-has-a/) [Donald C. Peattie](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/donald-c-peattie/) > [After all, time is not money. It is an opportunity to live before you die.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/donald-c-peattie/after-all-time-is-not-money-it-is-an-opportunity-to-live-before-you/) [Donald C. Peattie](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/donald-c-peattie/) > [No matter how widely you have travelled, you haven't seen the world if you have failed to look into the human hearts that inhabit…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/donald-c-peattie/no-matter-how-widely-you-have-travelled-you-haven-t-seen-the-world-if/) [Donald C. Peattie](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/donald-c-peattie/) > [All the great naturalists have been habitual walkers, for no laboratory, no book, car, train or plane takes the place of honest footwork for…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/donald-c-peattie/all-the-great-naturalists-have-been-habitual-walkers-for-no/) [Donald C. Peattie](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/donald-c-peattie/) > [Beauty is excrescence, superabundance, random ebulience, and sheer delightful waste to be enjoyed in its own right.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/donald-c-peattie/beauty-is-excrescence-superabundance-random-ebulience-and-sheer/) [Donald C. Peattie](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/donald-c-peattie/) [Explore all 15 Donald C. Peattie quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/donald-c-peattie/) ## More Confusion quotes > [The fog of illusion, the fog of confusion is hanging all over the world.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/van-morrison/the-fog-of-illusion-the-fog-of-confusion-is-hanging-all-over-the-world/) [Van Morrison](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/van-morrison/) > [I believe confusion is good. Worldwide market leaders gain when there is confusion in the market.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/subhash-chandra/i-believe-confusion-is-good-worldwide-market-leaders-gain-when-there/) [Subhash Chandra](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/subhash-chandra/) > [Being actors we are dealing with the beauty and complexity of human confusion, no? And we are always trying to get answers.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/penelope-cruz/being-actors-we-are-dealing-with-the-beauty-and-complexity-of-human/) [Penelope Cruz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/penelope-cruz/) > [“Wait, seriously, what's a piss pot?”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pat-shand/wait-seriously-what-s-a-piss-pot/) [Pat Shand](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pat-shand/) > [I think there's confusion around what the point of social networks is. A lot of different companies characterized as social networks have different goals…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-zuckerberg/i-think-there-s-confusion-around-what-the-point-of-social-networks-is/) [Mark Zuckerberg](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-zuckerberg/) > [In history as it comes to be written, there is usually some Spirit of the Age which historians can define, but the shape of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joseph-wood-krutch/in-history-as-it-comes-to-be-written-there-is-usually-some-spirit-of/) [Joseph Wood Krutch](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joseph-wood-krutch/) > [Establish an atmosphere that energizes you. Some creative people flourish in confusion; others need to be free from interruption. Many prepare themselves for work…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nita-leland/establish-an-atmosphere-that-energizes-you-some-creative-people/) [Nita Leland](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nita-leland/) > [Love is doing what will enthrall the beloved with the greatest and longest joy. What will enthrall the beloved this way is the glory…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-piper/love-is-doing-what-will-enthrall-the-beloved-with-the-greatest-and/) [John Piper](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-piper/) > [Psychedelic drugs cause paranoia, confusion, and total loss of reality in politicians that have never taken them.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/timothy-leary/psychedelic-drugs-cause-paranoia-confusion-and-total-loss-of-reality/) [Timothy Leary](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/timothy-leary/) > [That feeling you get when you know you are forgetting something, but you don't know what.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/that-feeling-you-get-when-you-know-you-are-forgetting-something-but/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [What are we doing here, that is the question. And we are blessed in this, that we happen to know the answer. Yes, in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/samuel-beckett/what-are-we-doing-here-that-is-the-question-and-we-are-blessed-in/) [Samuel Beckett](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/samuel-beckett/) > [But, when it comes to global warming, the public- at-large really doesn't know whom to believe anymore. And NASA has contributed to that confusion.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/walter-cunningham/but-when-it-comes-to-global-warming-the-public-at-large-really-doesn/) [Walter Cunningham](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/walter-cunningham/) > [You know your in LOVE,because,for once.. You know reality is better than your DREAMS..](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/you-know-your-in-love-because-for-once-you-know-reality-is-better/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [“In these days of faith-cures, and hypnotism, and telepathy, and subliminalities – why, the simple old world grows very confusing. But rarely, very rarely novel.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/walter-de-la-mare/in-these-days-of-faith-cures-and-hypnotism-and-telepathy-and/) [Walter de la Mare](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/walter-de-la-mare/) > [“If you want nothing to do with god then why do you say his name all the time”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/emily-reimer/if-you-want-nothing-to-do-with-god-then-why-do-you-say-his-name-all/) Emily Reimer [Browse all 1,822 Confusion quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/confusion/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "I have often started off on a walk in the state called mad-mad in the sense of sore-headed, or mad with tedium or confusion; I have set forth dull, null and even thoroughly discouraged. But I never came back in such a frame of mind, and I never met a human being whose humor was not the better for a walk.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Donald C. Peattie" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/donald-c-peattie/i-have-often-started-off-on-a-walk-in-the-state-called-mad-mad-in-the/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Confusion" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/donald-c-peattie/i-have-often-started-off-on-a-walk-in-the-state-called-mad-mad-in-the/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/6a6/donald-c-peattie-32821_confusion_i-have-often-started-off-on-a-walk-in-th_1540414.png", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/6a6/donald-c-peattie-32821_confusion_i-have-often-started-off-on-a-walk-in-th_1540414.png", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/6a6/donald-c-peattie-32821_confusion_i-have-often-started-off-on-a-walk-in-th_1540414.png", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“I have often started off on a walk in the state called mad-mad in the sense of sore-headed, or mad with…” — Donald C. Peattie", "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": "Donald C. Peattie", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/donald-c-peattie/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "I have often started off on...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/donald-c-peattie/i-have-often-started-off-on-a-walk-in-the-state-called-mad-mad-in-the/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/donald-c-peattie/i-have-often-started-off-on-a-walk-in-the-state-called-mad-mad-in-the/#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 } } ] } ```