--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: The place where optimism most flourishes…" description: "\"The place where optimism most flourishes is the lunatic asylum.\" — Havelock Ellis" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/fc7/havelock-ellis-3921_lunatic_the-place-where-optimism-most-flourishes_2079582.png" --- # The place where optimism most flourishes is the lunatic… ![“The place where optimism most flourishes is the lunatic asylum.” quote by Havelock Ellis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/fc7/havelock-ellis-3921_lunatic_the-place-where-optimism-most-flourishes_2079582.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/fc7/havelock-ellis-3921_lunatic_the-place-where-optimism-most-flourishes_2079582.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/fc7/havelock-ellis-3921_lunatic_the-place-where-optimism-most-flourishes_2079582.png) > “The place where optimism most flourishes is the lunatic asylum.” [Havelock Ellis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/havelock-ellis/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Optimism thrives where madness is accepted, because the absurd allows hope to persist. **In simple terms:** Madness accepts optimism. Key Takeaway Find hope in unconventional places. Themes mental health optimism creativity society Mood reflective inspirational Type philosophical psychological When to use this quote - artistic communities - support groups - alternative therapies - creative workplaces Key Concepts psychology social norms resilience Questions to Reflect On - How can we balance optimism with realism? - When does optimism become harmful? A Different Perspective Optimism may be dismissed as denial in rational settings. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Optimism](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/optimism/) ## Related quotes > [The place where optimism flourishes most is the lunatic asylum](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/havelock-ellis/the-place-where-optimism-flourishes-most-is-the-lunatic-asylum/) [Havelock Ellis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/havelock-ellis/) > [“the place where optism most flourishes is the lunatic asylum.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/havelock-ellis/the-place-where-optism-most-flourishes-is-the-lunatic-asylum/) [Havelock Ellis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/havelock-ellis/) > [Had there been a Lunatic Asylum in the suburbs of Jerusalem, Jesus Christ would infallibly have been shut up in it at the outset…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/havelock-ellis/had-there-been-a-lunatic-asylum-in-the-suburbs-of-jerusalem-jesus/) [Havelock Ellis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/havelock-ellis/) > [“CHILDREN see the world as a place of OPTIMISM. TEENS see the world as a place of IMAGINATION. YOUTH see the world as a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wisdom-ogbe/children-see-the-world-as-a-place-of-optimism-teens-see-the-world-as/) Wisdom Ogbe > [The world is becoming like a lunatic asylum run by lunatics.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-lloyd-george/the-world-is-becoming-like-a-lunatic-asylum-run-by-lunatics/) [David Lloyd George](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-lloyd-george/) > [“See, there were these two guys in a lunatic asylum... and one night, one night they decide they don't like living in an asylum…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alan-moore/see-there-were-these-two-guys-in-a-lunatic-asylum-and-one-night-one/) [Alan Moore](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alan-moore/) > [A casual stroll through the lunatic asylum shows that faith does not prove anything.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/friedrich-nietzsche/a-casual-stroll-through-the-lunatic-asylum-shows-that-faith-does-not/) [Friedrich Nietzsche](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/friedrich-nietzsche/) > [When I cease to preach salvation by faith in Jesus put me into a lunatic asylum, for you may be sure that my mind…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-spurgeon/when-i-cease-to-preach-salvation-by-faith-in-jesus-put-me-into-a/) [Charles Spurgeon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-spurgeon/) > [“Nothing matters in this goddamned lunatic asylum of a world but dough.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-lindsay-gresham/nothing-matters-in-this-goddamned-lunatic-asylum-of-a-world-but-dough/) [William Lindsay Gresham](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-lindsay-gresham/) > [The longer I live, the more convinced am I that this planet is used by other planets as a lunatic asylum.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-bernard-shaw/the-longer-i-live-the-more-convinced-am-i-that-this-planet-is-used-by/) [George Bernard Shaw](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-bernard-shaw/) > [“My definition of LUNATIC ASYLUM: A place where lunatics are created.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jim-fergus/my-definition-of-lunatic-asylum-a-place-where-lunatics-are-created/) [Jim Fergus](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jim-fergus/) > [If I were to say what I really think I would be arrested or shut away in a lunatic asylum. Come on, I am…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/roberto-bola-o/if-i-were-to-say-what-i-really-think-i-would-be-arrested-or-shut-away/) [Roberto Bolano](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/roberto-bola-o/) > [If you are an actress in L.A., on your 40th birthday they should just hand you the keys to the lunatic asylum.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/romola-garai/if-you-are-an-actress-in-l-a-on-your-40th-birthday-they-should-just/) [Romola Garai](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/romola-garai/) > [I cannot here avoid giving my most decided sufferage in favour of the moral qualities of maniacs. I have no where met, excepting in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/philippe-pinel/i-cannot-here-avoid-giving-my-most-decided-sufferage-in-favour-of-the/) Philippe Pinel > [I shouldn't make movies anymore. I should go to a lunatic asylum.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/werner-herzog/i-shouldn-t-make-movies-anymore-i-should-go-to-a-lunatic-asylum/) [Werner Herzog](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/werner-herzog/) ## More by Havelock Ellis > [The mother is the child's supreme parent.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/havelock-ellis/the-mother-is-the-child-s-supreme-parent/) [Havelock Ellis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/havelock-ellis/) > [All progress in literary style lies in the heroic resolve to cast aside accretions and exuberances, all the conventions of a past age that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/havelock-ellis/all-progress-in-literary-style-lies-in-the-heroic-resolve-to-cast/) [Havelock Ellis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/havelock-ellis/) > [Dreams are real as long as they last. Can we say more of life?](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/havelock-ellis/dreams-are-real-as-long-as-they-last-can-we-say-more-of-life/) [Havelock Ellis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/havelock-ellis/) > [The immense value of becoming acquainted with a foreign language is that we are thereby led into a new world of tradition and thought…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/havelock-ellis/the-immense-value-of-becoming-acquainted-with-a-foreign-language-is/) [Havelock Ellis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/havelock-ellis/) > [Greek is the embodiment of the fluent speech that runs or soars, the speech of a people which could not help giving winged feet…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/havelock-ellis/greek-is-the-embodiment-of-the-fluent-speech-that-runs-or-soars-the/) [Havelock Ellis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/havelock-ellis/) > [Those persons who are burning to display heroism may rest assured that the course of social evolution will offer them every opportunity.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/havelock-ellis/those-persons-who-are-burning-to-display-heroism-may-rest-assured/) [Havelock Ellis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/havelock-ellis/) > [All arguments are meaningless until we gain personal experience. One must win one's own place in the spiritual world painfully and alone. There is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/havelock-ellis/all-arguments-are-meaningless-until-we-gain-personal-experience-one/) [Havelock Ellis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/havelock-ellis/) > [However well organised the foundations of life may be, life must always be full of risks.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/havelock-ellis/however-well-organised-the-foundations-of-life-may-be-life-must/) [Havelock Ellis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/havelock-ellis/) > [Dancing and building are the two primary and essential arts. The art of dancing stands at the source of all the arts that expressthemselves…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/havelock-ellis/dancing-and-building-are-the-two-primary-and-essential-arts-the-art/) [Havelock Ellis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/havelock-ellis/) > [Failing to find in women exactly the same kind of sexual emotions, as they find in themselves, men have concluded that there are none…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/havelock-ellis/failing-to-find-in-women-exactly-the-same-kind-of-sexual-emotions-as/) [Havelock Ellis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/havelock-ellis/) > [The husband - by primitive instinct partly, certainly by ancient tradition - regards himself as the active partner in matters of love and his…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/havelock-ellis/the-husband-by-primitive-instinct-partly-certainly-by-ancient/) [Havelock Ellis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/havelock-ellis/) > [“All civilisation has from time to time become a thin crust over a volcano of revolution.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/havelock-ellis/all-civilisation-has-from-time-to-time-become-a-thin-crust-over-a/) [Havelock Ellis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/havelock-ellis/) > [For every fresh stage in our lives we need a fresh education, and there is no stage for which so little educational preparation is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/havelock-ellis/for-every-fresh-stage-in-our-lives-we-need-a-fresh-education-and/) [Havelock Ellis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/havelock-ellis/) > [The sexual regions constitute a particularly vulnerable spot, and remain so even in man, and the need for their protection which thus exists conflicts…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/havelock-ellis/the-sexual-regions-constitute-a-particularly-vulnerable-spot-and/) [Havelock Ellis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/havelock-ellis/) > [Sexual pleasure, wisely used and not abused, may prove the stimulus and liberator of our finest and most exalted activities.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/havelock-ellis/sexual-pleasure-wisely-used-and-not-abused-may-prove-the-stimulus-and/) [Havelock Ellis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/havelock-ellis/) [Explore all 119 Havelock Ellis quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/havelock-ellis/) ## More Lunatic quotes > [The lunatic fringe wags the underdog.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/h-l-mencken/the-lunatic-fringe-wags-the-underdog/) [H. L. Mencken](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/h-l-mencken/) > [Used with due abstinence, hope acts as a healthful tonic; intemperately indulged, as an enervating opiate. The visions of future triumph, which at first…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-fitzjames-stephen/used-with-due-abstinence-hope-acts-as-a-healthful-tonic-intemperately/) [James Fitzjames Stephen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-fitzjames-stephen/) > [Strange times are these in which we live when old and young are taught in falsehood's school, and the one man that dares to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/plato/strange-times-are-these-in-which-we-live-when-old-and-young-are/) [Plato](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/plato/) > [I may have been a complete lunatic, but I was a complete lunatic with manners.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/maureen-johnson/i-may-have-been-a-complete-lunatic-but-i-was-a-complete-lunatic-with/) [Maureen Johnson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/maureen-johnson/) > [Every reform movement has a lunatic fringe.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/theodore-roosevelt/every-reform-movement-has-a-lunatic-fringe/) [Theodore Roosevelt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/theodore-roosevelt/) > [Pausing allows you to take a beat to take a breath in your life. As everybody else is rushing around like a lunatic out…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/maria-shriver/pausing-allows-you-to-take-a-beat-to-take-a-breath-in-your-life-as/) [Maria Shriver](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/maria-shriver/) > [Tris," he says. "What did they do to you? You're acting like a lunatic." "That's not very nice of you to say," I say.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/veronica-roth/tris-he-says-what-did-they-do-to-you-you-re-acting-like-a-lunatic/) [Veronica Roth](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/veronica-roth/) > [I remember I played Birmingham and I'd been awake for about a week and I was walking about like a raving lunatic.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gerry-cinnamon/i-remember-i-played-birmingham-and-i-d-been-awake-for-about-a-week/) [Gerry Cinnamon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gerry-cinnamon/) > [Doubt, not self-reflection, comes from a destructive energy, and when it rears its head, I talk to it like a lunatic.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gwyneth-paltrow/doubt-not-self-reflection-comes-from-a-destructive-energy-and-when-it/) [Gwyneth Paltrow](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gwyneth-paltrow/) > [“He never reveals anything personal about himself, and he becomes enraged if I try to steer the conversation in that direction. So I don't.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/andrea-kane/he-never-reveals-anything-personal-about-himself-and-he-becomes/) [Andrea Kane](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/andrea-kane/) > [In a world gone mad, only a lunatic is truly insane.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/homer/in-a-world-gone-mad-only-a-lunatic-is-truly-insane/) [Homer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/homer/) > [People are mostly sane enough, of course, in the affairs of common life: the getting of food, shelter, and so on. But the moment…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-stove/people-are-mostly-sane-enough-of-course-in-the-affairs-of-common-life/) [David Stove](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-stove/) > [I'm a Christian-libertarian-environmentalist-capitalist-lunatic. It's a humorous way for me to describe that I'm not stereotypical.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joel-salatin/i-m-a-christian-libertarian-environmentalist-capitalist-lunatic-it-s/) [Joel Salatin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joel-salatin/) > [You preferred to be a lunatic, a minority of one.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-orwell/you-preferred-to-be-a-lunatic-a-minority-of-one/) [George Orwell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-orwell/) > [If people believe that the Geto Boys really do stuff like on 'Mind of a Lunatic,' they must also believe there's a real Freddie…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bushwick-bill/if-people-believe-that-the-geto-boys-really-do-stuff-like-on-mind-of/) [Bushwick Bill](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bushwick-bill/) Browse all 381 Lunatic quotes ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "The place where optimism most flourishes is the lunatic asylum.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Havelock Ellis" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/havelock-ellis/the-place-where-optimism-most-flourishes-is-the-lunatic-asylum/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Lunatic" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/havelock-ellis/the-place-where-optimism-most-flourishes-is-the-lunatic-asylum/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/fc7/havelock-ellis-3921_lunatic_the-place-where-optimism-most-flourishes_2079582.png", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/fc7/havelock-ellis-3921_lunatic_the-place-where-optimism-most-flourishes_2079582.png", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/fc7/havelock-ellis-3921_lunatic_the-place-where-optimism-most-flourishes_2079582.png", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“The place where optimism most flourishes is the lunatic asylum.” — Havelock Ellis", "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": "Havelock Ellis", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/havelock-ellis/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "The place where optimism most flourishes...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/havelock-ellis/the-place-where-optimism-most-flourishes-is-the-lunatic-asylum/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/havelock-ellis/the-place-where-optimism-most-flourishes-is-the-lunatic-asylum/#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 } } ] } ```