Biography Quote by Mike Jay

“James Tilly Matthews was not a prophet. He was a gifted, perhaps fragile individual who suffered intensely, and for little if any reward.”

— Mike Jay

“He was saner than anyone --had fallen out of the world of illusion: love, interesting work, hope for the future.”

— John Gardner

“it was the moment in which a sane man who is talking to a lunatic has not yet perceived that his companion is mad.”

— Marcel Proust

“Everywhere he looked was a nut, and it was all a sensible young gentleman like himself could do to maintain his perspective amid so…

— Joseph Heller

“He only wanted to have as much peace and quiet in his life as possible. He simply didn't realize that pursuing peace and quiet…

— Lee Siegel

“There was some simple, radical difference about him. He hoped it was genius, feared it was madness, devoted himself to amiability and inconspicuousness.”

— John Barth

“Have only this consolation--that he was never a fiend or even truly a madman, but only an eager, studious, and curious boy whose love…

— H.P. Lovecraft

“I put a hand up to cup his cheek, warm and lightly stubbled. I didn't fool myself that this was paradise or even a…

— Diana Gabaldon

“It was Matthews, of course, for whom the verdict was the greatest disaster. Not only had he failed to escape from Bedlam, but the…

— Mike Jay

“These were madmen, Simon realized, and that was the direst problem of the world: that madmen should be strong and unafraid, so that they,…

— Tad Williams

“Some internal process held him rapt. He had begun, perhaps, to map the paths inside himself which led to the Past. This gave him…

— M. John Harrison

“He awoke each morning with the desire to do right, to be a good and meaningful person, to be, as simple as it sounded…

— Jonathan Safran Foer