--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: I suppose I really seemed mad, then; but…" description: "\"I suppose I really seemed mad, then; but it was only through the awfulness of having said nothing but the truth, and being thought to be deluded.\" — Sa..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/242/sarah-waters-2758_deluded_i-suppose-i-really-seemed-mad-then-but-i_32058.png" --- # I suppose I really seemed mad, then; but it was only… ![“I suppose I really seemed mad, then; but it was only through the awfulness of having said nothing but the truth, and being thought to be deluded.” quote by Sarah Waters](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/242/sarah-waters-2758_deluded_i-suppose-i-really-seemed-mad-then-but-i_32058.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/242/sarah-waters-2758_deluded_i-suppose-i-really-seemed-mad-then-but-i_32058.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/242/sarah-waters-2758_deluded_i-suppose-i-really-seemed-mad-then-but-i_32058.png) > “I suppose I really seemed mad, then; but it was only through the awfulness of having said nothing but the truth, and being thought to be deluded.” [Sarah Waters](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sarah-waters/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. The speaker feels judged as irrational because truth-telling made them appear insane, highlighting how honesty can be misinterpreted as delusion. **In simple terms:** Truth can seem madness to observers. Key Takeaway Honesty may be perceived as madness. Themes Truth vs perception Social judgment Isolation Misinterpretation Cognitive dissonance Mood Reflective Melancholic Defiant Type Philosophical Literary Anecdotal When to use this quote - Being honest in a hostile environment - Facing criticism for speaking truth - Feeling alienated after revealing facts - Navigating social stigma when truth is unpopular Key Concepts Truth Madness Perception Delusion Practical Applications - Encouraging candid communication in teams - Designing safe spaces for truth-telling Questions to Reflect On - When does truth become a liability? - How can we protect truth-tellers from misjudgment? ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Nothing but the truth](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/nothing-but-the-truth/) [Truth](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/truth/) ## Related quotes > [Always remember who you're really MAD at. You're mad at someone in your past not the innocent people who haven't done anything to you.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sonya-parker/always-remember-who-you-re-really-mad-at-you-re-mad-at-someone-in/) [Sonya Parker](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sonya-parker/) > [Ella was vapid and worthless at least nine-tenths of the time, but when she got really mad, her face became sharp and purposeful. Almost…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/francine-pascal/ella-was-vapid-and-worthless-at-least-nine-tenths-of-the-time-but/) [Francine Pascal](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/francine-pascal/) > [You are MAD. You really are MAD. MAD means: you are M-MY A-ADORABLE D-DARLING. HAHAA](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/amoh-nketiah-dennis/you-are-mad-you-really-are-mad-mad-means-you-are-m-my-a-adorable-d/) Amoh Nketiah Dennis > [Stan said he used to keep Hardy late, make him miss his golf game, and really get him mad.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dick-van-dyke/stan-said-he-used-to-keep-hardy-late-make-him-miss-his-golf-game-and/) [Dick Van Dyke](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dick-van-dyke/) > [I don't know if I ever really get mad in real life.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jennifer-aniston/i-don-t-know-if-i-ever-really-get-mad-in-real-life/) [Jennifer Aniston](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jennifer-aniston/) > [Make your haters mad! Yeah, make them really mad!](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/greyson-chance/make-your-haters-mad-yeah-make-them-really-mad/) [Greyson Chance](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/greyson-chance/) > [I don't even like to lose when I'm playing video games with my brother, and when I do lose, I get really mad.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aleksandar-mitrovic/i-don-t-even-like-to-lose-when-i-m-playing-video-games-with-my/) [Aleksandar Mitrovic](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aleksandar-mitrovic/) > [God's everywhere, but I gotta go down (to church) to see him? Really? And he's mad at me down there, and I owe you…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bill-burr/god-s-everywhere-but-i-gotta-go-down-to-church-to-see-him-really-and/) [Bill Burr](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bill-burr/) > [This is my Achilles heel. If some Internet technician is on the phone with me and he's being irrational and incompetent and stupid, I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/martha-nussbaum/this-is-my-achilles-heel-if-some-internet-technician-is-on-the-phone/) [Martha Nussbaum](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/martha-nussbaum/) > [I'm either really, really mad and out of control or just, y'know, done.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sarah-harding/i-m-either-really-really-mad-and-out-of-control-or-just-y-know-done/) [Sarah Harding](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sarah-harding/) > [There's art on the show that's really bad - these cliché Abstract Expressionist gestural things. It's almost like extensions of my performance, because in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-franco/there-s-art-on-the-show-that-s-really-bad-these-clich-abstract/) [James Franco](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-franco/) > [I just remember that whenever I got really mad or passionate, like in an argument, people would laugh, and I'd be dead serious. It…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/chris-rock/i-just-remember-that-whenever-i-got-really-mad-or-passionate-like-in/) [Chris Rock](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/chris-rock/) > [I don't really get mad. But if I see a helpless animal being treated cruelly I will transform into the Incredible Hulk.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/heart-evangelista/i-don-t-really-get-mad-but-if-i-see-a-helpless-animal-being-treated/) [Heart Evangelista](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/heart-evangelista/) > [I am really mad at whoever invented the sunburn...](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/i-am-really-mad-at-whoever-invented-the-sunburn/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [It's not about being mad at everything. It's about being really mad at the right things.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ice-t/it-s-not-about-being-mad-at-everything-it-s-about-being-really-mad-at/) [Ice T](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ice-t/) ## More by Sarah Waters > [“Now, from the crown of my head to the curve of my toe-nails, there was an unguent for every part of me - oil…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sarah-waters/now-from-the-crown-of-my-head-to-the-curve-of-my-toe-nails-there-was/) [Sarah Waters](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sarah-waters/) > [“Miss Craven held up a pair she thought would fit me—monstrous great things they were, of course, and I thought she smiled as she…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sarah-waters/miss-craven-held-up-a-pair-she-thought-would-fit-me-monstrous-great/) [Sarah Waters](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sarah-waters/) > [I barely knew I had skin before I met you.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sarah-waters/i-barely-knew-i-had-skin-before-i-met-you/) [Sarah Waters](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sarah-waters/) > [My nan was a nursery maid. Most people weren't in big houses. They were maids of all work.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sarah-waters/my-nan-was-a-nursery-maid-most-people-weren-t-in-big-houses-they-were/) [Sarah Waters](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sarah-waters/) > [Being in love, you know... it's not like having a canary, in a cage. When you lose one sweetheart, you can't just go out…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sarah-waters/being-in-love-you-know-it-s-not-like-having-a-canary-in-a-cage-when/) [Sarah Waters](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sarah-waters/) > [For was that all, she thought bleakly, that love ever was? Something that saved one from loneliness? A sort of insurance policy against not…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sarah-waters/for-was-that-all-she-thought-bleakly-that-love-ever-was-something/) [Sarah Waters](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sarah-waters/) > [“And yet, I seemed to feel my eyes bound, too, with bands of silk. And at my throat there was a velvet collar.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sarah-waters/and-yet-i-seemed-to-feel-my-eyes-bound-too-with-bands-of-silk-and-at/) [Sarah Waters](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sarah-waters/) > [“No-one speaks. No-one moves (…). We glide, softly, in silence, into our dark and separate hells”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sarah-waters/no-one-speaks-no-one-moves-we-glide-softly-in-silence-into-our-dark/) [Sarah Waters](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sarah-waters/) > [“She loved these walks through London. She seemed, as she made them, to become porous, to soak in detail after detail; or else, like…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sarah-waters/she-loved-these-walks-through-london-she-seemed-as-she-made-them-to/) [Sarah Waters](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sarah-waters/) > [“Oh, for shame! Nancy, have you never seen Florrie's face in a chrysanthemum, or a rose?' 'Never.' I said. 'Though there was a flounder…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sarah-waters/oh-for-shame-nancy-have-you-never-seen-florrie-s-face-in-a/) [Sarah Waters](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sarah-waters/) > [“My locket hangs in my closet beside the glass, the only shining thing among so many shadows.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sarah-waters/my-locket-hangs-in-my-closet-beside-the-glass-the-only-shining-thing/) [Sarah Waters](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sarah-waters/) > [“Mr Bliss looked grave. 'Your brother was very sensible to warn you, Miss Astley - but sadly misinformed. There are no trams in Trafalgur…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sarah-waters/mr-bliss-looked-grave-your-brother-was-very-sensible-to-warn-you-miss/) [Sarah Waters](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sarah-waters/) > [I knew Id always be a second-rate academic, and I thought, Well, Id rather be a second-rate novelist or even a third-rate one.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sarah-waters/i-knew-id-always-be-a-second-rate-academic-and-i-thought-well-id/) [Sarah Waters](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sarah-waters/) > [“It is a world that is made of love. Did you think there is only the kind of love your sister knows for her…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sarah-waters/it-is-a-world-that-is-made-of-love-did-you-think-there-is-only-the/) [Sarah Waters](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sarah-waters/) > [Sometimes I think I'd be perfectly happy to go on rewriting 'Tipping the Velvet' forever because it was so much fun.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sarah-waters/sometimes-i-think-i-d-be-perfectly-happy-to-go-on-rewriting-tipping/) [Sarah Waters](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sarah-waters/) [Explore all 148 Sarah Waters quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sarah-waters/) ## More Deluded quotes > [That which is truly human no generation learns from the one before it. No generation learns from another how to love. No generation has…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/soren-kierkegaard/that-which-is-truly-human-no-generation-learns-from-the-one-before-it/) [Soren Kierkegaard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/soren-kierkegaard/) > [Do not be deluded by the abstract word Freedom. Whose freedom? Not the freedom of one individual in relation to another, but freedom of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/karl-marx/do-not-be-deluded-by-the-abstract-word-freedom-whose-freedom-not-the/) [Karl Marx](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/karl-marx/) > [The world being illusive, one must be deluded in some way if one is to triumph in it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-butler-yeats/the-world-being-illusive-one-must-be-deluded-in-some-way-if-one-is-to/) [William Butler Yeats](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-butler-yeats/) > [“It is Nature that causes all movement. Deluded by the ego, the fool harbors the perception that says "I did it".”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/veda-vyasa/it-is-nature-that-causes-all-movement-deluded-by-the-ego-the-fool/) Veda Vyasa > [If you submit to the ocean, you drown. If you try to control the ocean, then you're deluded. You learn how to live with…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/emma-restall-orr/if-you-submit-to-the-ocean-you-drown-if-you-try-to-control-the-ocean/) [Emma Restall Orr](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/emma-restall-orr/) > [Men are constantly attracted and deluded by two opposite charms: the charm of competence which is engendered by mathematics and everything akin to mathematics,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/leo-strauss/men-are-constantly-attracted-and-deluded-by-two-opposite-charms-the/) [Leo Strauss](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/leo-strauss/) > [Since I move about with you, eat like you, and talk with you, you are deluded in the belief that this is but an…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sathya-sai-baba/since-i-move-about-with-you-eat-like-you-and-talk-with-you-you-are/) [Sathya Sai Baba](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sathya-sai-baba/) > [I think we have deluded ourselves into believing that people don't know that abortion is killing. So any pretense that abortion is not killing…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/faye-wattleton/i-think-we-have-deluded-ourselves-into-believing-that-people-don-t/) [Faye Wattleton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/faye-wattleton/) > [If you're deluded, you live in a place where there isn't everyone else's reality.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/christopher-guest/if-you-re-deluded-you-live-in-a-place-where-there-isn-t-everyone-else/) [Christopher Guest](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/christopher-guest/) > [How deluded we sometimes are by the clear notions we get out of books. They make us think that we really understand things of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-merton/how-deluded-we-sometimes-are-by-the-clear-notions-we-get-out-of-books/) [Thomas Merton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-merton/) > [An artist in 2014 who is thinking about album sales is either sadly deluded or has to make so many commercial compromises that it…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/moby/an-artist-in-2014-who-is-thinking-about-album-sales-is-either-sadly/) [Moby](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/moby/) > [Every generation of humans believed it had all the answers it needed, except for a few mysteries they assumed would be solved at any…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/scott-adams/every-generation-of-humans-believed-it-had-all-the-answers-it-needed/) [Scott Adams](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/scott-adams/) > [I will not avoid doing what I think is right, though it should draw on me the whole artillery that falsehood and malice can…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-murray-1st-earl-of-mansfield/i-will-not-avoid-doing-what-i-think-is-right-though-it-should-draw-on/) [William Murray, 1st Earl of Mansfield](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-murray-1st-earl-of-mansfield/) > [No matter how confused or deluded we may be at the moment, the underlying and essential nature of our being is clear and pure](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/no-matter-how-confused-or-deluded-we-may-be-at-the-moment-the/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [Get away from all books and forms and let your soul see its Self. "We are deluded and maddened by books", Shri Krishna declares.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/swami-vivekananda/get-away-from-all-books-and-forms-and-let-your-soul-see-its-self-we/) [Swami Vivekananda](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/swami-vivekananda/) Browse all 162 Deluded quotes ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "I suppose I really seemed mad, then; but it was only through the awfulness of having said nothing but the truth, and being thought to be deluded.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Sarah Waters" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sarah-waters/i-suppose-i-really-seemed-mad-then-but-it-was-only-through-the/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Deluded" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sarah-waters/i-suppose-i-really-seemed-mad-then-but-it-was-only-through-the/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/242/sarah-waters-2758_deluded_i-suppose-i-really-seemed-mad-then-but-i_32058.png", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/242/sarah-waters-2758_deluded_i-suppose-i-really-seemed-mad-then-but-i_32058.png", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/242/sarah-waters-2758_deluded_i-suppose-i-really-seemed-mad-then-but-i_32058.png", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“I suppose I really seemed mad, then; but it was only through the awfulness of having said nothing but the…” — Sarah Waters", "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": "Sarah Waters", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sarah-waters/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "I suppose I really seemed mad,...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sarah-waters/i-suppose-i-really-seemed-mad-then-but-it-was-only-through-the/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sarah-waters/i-suppose-i-really-seemed-mad-then-but-it-was-only-through-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 } } ] } ```