--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: …modern man no longer communicates with…" description: "\"“…modern man no longer communicates with the madman […] There is no common language: or rather, it no longer exists; the constitution of madness as men..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/177/michel-foucault-1134_communication_modern-man-no-longer-communicates-with-t_446934.jpg" --- # …modern man no longer communicates with the madman \[…\]… ![“…modern man no longer communicates with the madman […] There is no common language: or rather, it no longer exists; the constitution of madness as mental illness, at the end of the eighteenth century, bears witness to a rupture in a dialogue, gives the separation as already enacted, and expels…” quote by Michel Foucault](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/177/michel-foucault-1134_communication_modern-man-no-longer-communicates-with-t_446934.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/177/michel-foucault-1134_communication_modern-man-no-longer-communicates-with-t_446934.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/177/michel-foucault-1134_communication_modern-man-no-longer-communicates-with-t_446934.jpg) > ““…modern man no longer communicates with the madman \[…\] There is no common language: or rather, it no longer exists; the constitution of madness as mental illness, at the end of the eighteenth century, bears witness to a rupture in a dialogue, gives the separation as already enacted, and expels from the memory all those imperfect words, of no fixed syntax, spoken falteringly, in which the exchange between madness and reason was carried out. The language of psychiatry, which is a monologue by reason about madness, could only have come into existence in such a silence.”” [Michel Foucault](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michel-foucault/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Modern society has lost a shared language with madness, creating a one‑sided rational discourse that silences the irrational. **In simple terms:** Reason dominates, silencing madness. Key Takeaway Recognize and bridge the gap. Themes language madness reason silence Mood critical reflective Type philosophical analytical When to use this quote - mental health advocacy - interdisciplinary dialogue - educational reform Key Concepts philosophy psychiatry social theory Questions to Reflect On - What does a true dialogue with madness require? - Can reason and irrational coexist? A Different Perspective Risk of romanticizing madness. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Communication](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/communication/) [Language Psychiatry](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/language-psychiatry-2044881/) [Madness](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/madness/) [Madness Mental](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/madness-mental-3907793/) [Madness Reason](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/madness-reason-2044880/) [Mental illness](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/mental-illness/) [Modern man](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/modern-man/) [Psychiatry Monologue](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/psychiatry-monologue-2044882/) [Reason Madness](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/reason-madness-1089952/) ## Related quotes > [The constitution of madness as a mental illness, at the end of the eighteenth century, affords the evidence of a broken dialogue, posits the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michel-foucault/the-constitution-of-madness-as-a-mental-illness-at-the-end-of-the/) [Michel Foucault](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michel-foucault/) > [The language of psychiatry is a monologue of reason about madness](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michel-foucault/the-language-of-psychiatry-is-a-monologue-of-reason-about-madness/) [Michel Foucault](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michel-foucault/) > [The language of psychiatry, which is a monologue by reason about madness, could only have come into existence in such a silence.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michel-foucault/the-language-of-psychiatry-which-is-a-monologue-by-reason-about/) [Michel Foucault](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michel-foucault/) > [“From a Christian point of view, human reason is madness compared to the reason of God, but divine reason appears as madness to human…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michel-foucault/from-a-christian-point-of-view-human-reason-is-madness-compared-to/) [Michel Foucault](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michel-foucault/) > [I studied mathematics which is the madness of reason.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/benjamin-moser/i-studied-mathematics-which-is-the-madness-of-reason/) [Benjamin Moser](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/benjamin-moser/) > [There is always some madness in love. But there is also always some reason in madness.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/there-is-always-some-madness-in-love-but-there-is-also-always-some-2/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [Tell me, friend, when did Saruman the Wise abandon reason for madness?](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/tell-me-friend-when-did-saruman-the-wise-abandon-reason-for-madness/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [“We men of intelligence will learn to harness the insanities of reason. We can't leave the world any longer to the direction of chance.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aldous-huxley/we-men-of-intelligence-will-learn-to-harness-the-insanities-of-reason/) [Aldous Huxley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aldous-huxley/) > [There is just so much hurt, disappointment, and oppression one can take... The line between reason and madness grows thinner.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rosa-parks/there-is-just-so-much-hurt-disappointment-and-oppression-one-can-take/) [Rosa Parks](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rosa-parks/) > [There is Always some Madness in Love But there is also always some reason to Madness..!](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anwar/there-is-always-some-madness-in-love-but-there-is-also-always-some/) [Anwar](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anwar/) > [Its Always Some Madness In Love , But Always Some Reason For Madness](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/deezy-da-dreadhead/its-always-some-madness-in-love-but-always-some-reason-for-madness/) [Deezy Da Dreadhead](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/deezy-da-dreadhead/) > [“God was a maze without a map, a circle without a centre; the pieces of a jigsaw that never seemed to fit together. If…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elif-shafak/god-was-a-maze-without-a-map-a-circle-without-a-centre-the-pieces-of/) [Elif Shafak](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elif-shafak/) > [For millenia, man remained what he was for Aristotle: a living animal with the additional capacity for a political existence; modern man is an…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michel-foucault/for-millenia-man-remained-what-he-was-for-aristotle-a-living-animal/) [Michel Foucault](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michel-foucault/) > [“The mass of men have been forced to be gay about the little things, but sad about the big ones. Nevertheless (I offer my…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/g-k-chesterton/the-mass-of-men-have-been-forced-to-be-gay-about-the-little-things/) [G.K. Chesterton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/g-k-chesterton/) > [A 'modern' man has nothing to add to modernism, if only because he has nothing to oppose it with. The well-adapted drop off the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elias-canetti/a-modern-man-has-nothing-to-add-to-modernism-if-only-because-he-has/) [Elias Canetti](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elias-canetti/) ## More by Michel Foucault > [One should try to locate power at the extreme of its exercise, where it is always less legal in character.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michel-foucault/one-should-try-to-locate-power-at-the-extreme-of-its-exercise-where/) [Michel Foucault](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michel-foucault/) > [The book is not simply the object that one holds in one's hands, and it cannot remain within the little parallelpiped that contains it:…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michel-foucault/the-book-is-not-simply-the-object-that-one-holds-in-one-s-hands-and/) [Michel Foucault](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michel-foucault/) > [“But a punishment like forced labour or even imprisonment – mere loss of liberty – has never functioned without a certain additional element of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michel-foucault/but-a-punishment-like-forced-labour-or-even-imprisonment-mere-loss-of/) [Michel Foucault](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michel-foucault/) > [Death left its old tragic heaven and became the lyrical core of man: his invisible truth, his visible secret.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michel-foucault/death-left-its-old-tragic-heaven-and-became-the-lyrical-core-of-man/) [Michel Foucault](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michel-foucault/) > [I'm no prophet. My job is making windows where there were once walls.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michel-foucault/i-m-no-prophet-my-job-is-making-windows-where-there-were-once-walls/) [Michel Foucault](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michel-foucault/) > [Let us ask... how things work at the level of on-going subjugation, at the level of those continuous and uninterrupted processes which subject our…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michel-foucault/let-us-ask-how-things-work-at-the-level-of-on-going-subjugation-at/) [Michel Foucault](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michel-foucault/) > [What makes power hold good, what makes it accepted, is simply the fact that it doesn't only weigh on us as a force that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michel-foucault/what-makes-power-hold-good-what-makes-it-accepted-is-simply-the-fact/) [Michel Foucault](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michel-foucault/) > [“It was a matter of showing by what conjunctions a whole set of practices-- from the moment they became coordinated with a regime of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michel-foucault/it-was-a-matter-of-showing-by-what-conjunctions-a-whole-set-of/) [Michel Foucault](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michel-foucault/) > [“The preferred medications were those that forestalled corruption. We know 'as a result of more than three thousand years of experience that Myrrh and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michel-foucault/the-preferred-medications-were-those-that-forestalled-corruption-we/) [Michel Foucault](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michel-foucault/) > [“The man described for us, whom we are invited to free, is already in himself the effect of a subjection much more profound than…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michel-foucault/the-man-described-for-us-whom-we-are-invited-to-free-is-already-in/) [Michel Foucault](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michel-foucault/) > [“Confined on the ship, from which there is no escape, the madman is delivered to the river with its thousand arms, the sea with…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michel-foucault/confined-on-the-ship-from-which-there-is-no-escape-the-madman-is/) [Michel Foucault](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michel-foucault/) > [Believe what is productive is not sedentary but nomadic.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michel-foucault/believe-what-is-productive-is-not-sedentary-but-nomadic/) [Michel Foucault](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michel-foucault/) > [Are the prisons overpopulated, or is the population over-imprisoned ?](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michel-foucault/are-the-prisons-overpopulated-or-is-the-population-over-imprisoned/) [Michel Foucault](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michel-foucault/) > [An American professor complained that a crypto-Marxist like me was invited in the USA, and I was denounced by the press in Eastern European…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michel-foucault/an-american-professor-complained-that-a-crypto-marxist-like-me-was/) [Michel Foucault](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michel-foucault/) > [Withdraw allegiance from the old categories of the Negative (law, limit, castration, lack, lacuna), which the Western thought has so long held sacred as…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michel-foucault/withdraw-allegiance-from-the-old-categories-of-the-negative-law-limit/) [Michel Foucault](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michel-foucault/) [Explore all 272 Michel Foucault quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michel-foucault/) ## More Communication quotes > [Some people still believe you should just fall in line with what's going on - and that's scary. It makes a mockery of freedom…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/emily-robison/some-people-still-believe-you-should-just-fall-in-line-with-what-s/) [Emily Robison](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/emily-robison/) > [The problem posed by indirect speech acts is the problem of how it is possible for the speaker to say one thing and mean…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-searle/the-problem-posed-by-indirect-speech-acts-is-the-problem-of-how-it-is/) [John Searle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-searle/) > [We should have a conversation when we hang up.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/benedict-cumberbatch/we-should-have-a-conversation-when-we-hang-up/) [Benedict Cumberbatch](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/benedict-cumberbatch/) > [Sing like no one's listening, love like you've never been hurt, dance like nobody's watching, and live like its heaven on earth.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-twain/sing-like-no-one-s-listening-love-like-you-ve-never-been-hurt-dance/) [Mark Twain](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-twain/) > [A poet is wounded into speech, and he examines these wounds, meticulously, to discover how to heal them. The bad poet harangues at the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/samuel-r-delany/a-poet-is-wounded-into-speech-and-he-examines-these-wounds/) [Samuel R. Delany](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/samuel-r-delany/) > [“To engage in dialogue is to serve others via whatever is real inside you; to engage in debate is to ultimately serve the illusions…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/oli-anderson/to-engage-in-dialogue-is-to-serve-others-via-whatever-is-real-inside/) [Oli Anderson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/oli-anderson/) > [What it comes down to for me is this: Will the technologies of communication in our culture, serve to enlighten us and help us…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/roger-waters/what-it-comes-down-to-for-me-is-this-will-the-technologies-of/) [Roger Waters](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/roger-waters/) > [In dialogue, there is opposition, yes, but no head-on collision. Smashing heads does not open minds.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/deborah-tannen/in-dialogue-there-is-opposition-yes-but-no-head-on-collision-smashing/) [Deborah Tannen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/deborah-tannen/) > [A dialogue is very important. It is a form of communication in which question and answer continue till a question is left without an…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jiddu-krishnamurti/a-dialogue-is-very-important-it-is-a-form-of-communication-in-which/) [Jiddu Krishnamurti](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jiddu-krishnamurti/) > [I get afraid of the dark if I'm in a great deal of dark, and I have to move around inside of that fear...…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/emil-ferris/i-get-afraid-of-the-dark-if-i-m-in-a-great-deal-of-dark-and-i-have-to/) [Emil Ferris](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/emil-ferris/) > [I've been in a serious conversation with one of my children, and a fan has come up. I've been in a public bathroom and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/helen-reddy/i-ve-been-in-a-serious-conversation-with-one-of-my-children-and-a-fan/) [Helen Reddy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/helen-reddy/) > [Life as we know it is fundamentally unsatisfying. I think most folks feel this to be true. They know that a life of aimless…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-yates/life-as-we-know-it-is-fundamentally-unsatisfying-i-think-most-folks/) [Michael Yates](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-yates/) > [Disability, in general, hasn't been included in the conversation about inclusivity.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jason-winston-george/disability-in-general-hasn-t-been-included-in-the-conversation-about/) [Jason Winston George](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jason-winston-george/) > [“Women will be at least 50 percent of the communications community workforce … from executive suite to interns. Why? The “integrated” agency will be…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/yoram-wind/women-will-be-at-least-50-percent-of-the-communications-community/) [Yoram Wind](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/yoram-wind/) > [There are certain things you must not say in spite of the fact that supposedly democracy means free speech. No. You are not allowed…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/chris-eubank-sr/there-are-certain-things-you-must-not-say-in-spite-of-the-fact-that/) [Chris Eubank Sr](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/chris-eubank-sr/) [Browse all 21,506 Communication quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/communication/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“…modern man no longer communicates with the madman […] There is no common language: or rather, it no longer exists; the constitution of madness as mental illness, at the end of the eighteenth century, bears witness to a rupture in a dialogue, gives the separation as already enacted, and expels from the memory all those imperfect words, of no fixed syntax, spoken falteringly, in which the exchange between madness and reason was carried out. The language of psychiatry, which is a monologue by reason about madness, could only have come into existence in such a silence.”", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Michel Foucault" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michel-foucault/modern-man-no-longer-communicates-with-the-madman-there-is-no-common/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Communication" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michel-foucault/modern-man-no-longer-communicates-with-the-madman-there-is-no-common/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/177/michel-foucault-1134_communication_modern-man-no-longer-communicates-with-t_446934.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/177/michel-foucault-1134_communication_modern-man-no-longer-communicates-with-t_446934.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/177/michel-foucault-1134_communication_modern-man-no-longer-communicates-with-t_446934.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“…modern man no longer communicates with the madman […] There is no common language: or rather, it no longer…” — Michel Foucault", "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": "Michel Foucault", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michel-foucault/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "“…modern man no longer communicates with...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michel-foucault/modern-man-no-longer-communicates-with-the-madman-there-is-no-common/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michel-foucault/modern-man-no-longer-communicates-with-the-madman-there-is-no-common/#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 } } ] } ```