Losing my mind Quote by Gene Wolfe
““Seeing him brought in, has, I think, saved me from losing my mind; for that I do not thank him-sanity, after all is only reason applied to human affairs, and when this reason, applied over years, has resulted in disaster, destruction, despair, misery, starvation, and rot, the mind is correct to abandon it. This decision to discard reason, I see now, is not the last but the first reasonable act; and this insanity we are taught to fear consists in nothing but responding naturally and instinctively rather than with the culturally acquired, mannered thing called reason; an insane man talks nonsense because like a bird or a cat he is too sensible to talk sense.””
About This Quote
Source Novel: The Book of the New Sun, 1980
Reason can become oppressive; abandoning it for instinct and natural response may be the first sane act, challenging cultural norms that equate sanity with rationality.
In simple terms: Sometimes intuition beats over‑reliance on logic.
Key Takeaway
Trust your instincts over rigid logic.
Themes
reason
instinct
sanity
Mood
cautious
thoughtful
Type
philosophical
literary
When to use this quote
- making decisions under pressure
- creative problem solving
- mental health coping
Key Concepts
cultural conditioning
philosophical skepticism
Questions to Reflect On
- When is instinct more reliable than analysis?
- What are the costs of rejecting reason?
A Different Perspective
Risk of irrational choices without critical thinking.
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![“Of all the things I've lost, I miss my mind the most [borrowed from Mark Twain]” quote by Gerard Way](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/img-quotes/086/gerard-way-1061_borrowed_of-all-the-things-i-ve-lost-i-miss-my-mi_434581.jpg)
