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About this quote

What does it mean?
Accepting universal madness makes mysteries fade and life seem understandable.
In plain terms
When we admit we’re all mad, life makes sense.
What can you take from it?
Embrace shared imperfection to reduce existential anxiety.

Where it applies

  • mental health
  • philosophical contemplation

Putting it to work

  • mindfulness
  • community support

Questions to consider

  • What does ‘madness’ mean in this context?
  • How does acceptance change our perception of mystery?

Another view

Some may find this view dismissive of genuine mental illness.

More from Samuel Langhorne Clemens

  1. Man has been here 32,000 years. That it took a hundred million years to prepare the world for him is proof that that is what it was done for. I suppose it is, …

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  2. In religion and politics, people's beliefs and convictions are in almost every case gotten at second hand, and without examination.

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  3. You cannot depend on your eyes when your imagination is out of focus.

    Permalink to quote #196

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