Is madness healthy? Is a genius really mad? Social norms or social outcasts?

History and literature are riddled with examples of madness. From leaders to the "little people", from writers to personas in their writing, there are those who dare to be "madly" different.

But is madness a negative trait? A sign of a poor piece of humanity? Or is madness the glint of a precious gem?

Madness is that jagged, ragged grey space between the perceived, level plain of reason and what could be asylum bound insanity. It is a social perception, measured by socially "healthy" norms. To blur the boundaries further, there are levels of madness, ranging from amusing, harmless eccentricities and oddities to disturbing, manic, ego and passion driven behaviour patterns.

Bluey was one of those delightful, entertaining eccentrics. Even though, most days, he drowned in drink, he was not obnoxious. Imagine carroty red hair atop a weathered, freckled face atop a well groomed, pale toned suit. That was Bluey. Sometimes, he crowned the whole ensemble with a hat - for tipping to the ladies, of course. He spent his days strolling the streets of Camden N.S.W., chatting to anyone, on any topic. In between, he maintained his drink sustenance. A particular memory must be town parades. Bluey was always there, leading the parade. He loved the fanfare of marching in a group and checked constantly that others were in step, with chin up. He had something to say if you weren't. Bluey may not be recorded in the annals of history, but he was definitely a colourful part of the history of Camden. Bluey was a precious icon; a proud dimension of Camden.

At the other end of the scale, there is the madness of power and passion. The "conquering" exploits of Napoleon Bonaparte and Adolf Hitler were so unique as to border on manic. And then, there are others behind the power, the more insidious forms of madness. Rasputin came from a small village in Siberia. He bluffed his way to mystical power behind the Romanov dynasty in Russia. His passion, to rise above humble beginnings, led him to reckless claims of "supernatural" skill. He was loved by the Tsarina, bringing hope for her haemophiliac son, but the Russian people feared him. Madness can be a sign of dark, maybe evil chasms.

However, levels and forms of madness are not exclusive to the realms of history. Among literary writers are "the mad ones". The flamboyant 19^th century playwright, Oscar Wilde, must be mentioned. He starred in the social set, was imprisoned AND is recorded as "exploding" when his beloved china blue tea set went missing from his university room. Colderidge, in a moment of self-induced madness (opium), created the well-known, poetic masterpiece "Xanadu". Their madness was a sign of creative genius.

But the greatest evidence of "madness" must be Jonathan Swift's satire, "Modest Proposal" (1789), when the narrator recommends that the Irish can breed their children as food for the rich; the rich English landlords are implied. Poverty solved! Surely, only a sick mind could produce such lengthy, descriptive, gross ideas, even in satire.

It appears, humanity is afflicted with moments of madness and levels of madness. Sometimes, the madness is "light" and entertaining, sometimes "dark" and foreboding.

Few members of humanity are remembered for maintaining social integrity and following social norms.

But those who step beyond the line, in history or literature, become a curious, interesting specimen of madness, coated with a touch of genius!

WHAT IS MADNESS?

1. "What is madness? To have erroneous perceptions and to reason correctly from them." - Voltaire

2. "The extreme limit of wisdom--that is what the public calls madness." - Jean Cocteau

3. "Too much sanity may be madness." - Miguel de Cervantes Saavedra

WHAT IS MADNESS LIKE? WHAT ARE THE FEATURES OF MAD PEOPLE?

1. "Drunkenness is nothing but voluntary madness." - Seneca

2. "There is no genius free from some tincture of madness." - Seneca

3. "Hatred is the madness of the heart." - Lord Byron

4. "Much Madness is divinest Sense -- to a discerning Eye -- much Sense -- the starkest Madness -" - Emily Dickinson

5. "It is much more comfortable to be mad and know it, than to be sane and have one's doubts." - G. B. Burgin

6. "In a completely sane world, madness is the only freedom!" - J.G.Ballard

7. "The mad are happy, the sane ignorant; those of us stuck on the sane side of madness or the mad fringe of sanity are in a purgatorial cage. ~Anonymous ...

HOW DOES MADNESS WORK?

1. "Sanity is madness put to good uses." - George Santayana

2. "Truly great madness cannot be achieved without significant intelligence." - Henrik Tikkanen

3. "All are lunatics, but he who can analyze his delusion is called a philosopher." - Ambrose Bierce

THE LINK BETWEEN MADNESS, SCIENTISTS AND MATHEMATICIANS

"We all agree that your theory is crazy, but is it crazy enough?" - Niels Bohr

THE LINK BETWEEN MADNESS AND BEAUTY

"Only those things are beautiful which are inspired by madness and written by reason." - Andre Gide

THE LINK BETWEEN MADNESS AND POETS

"The courage of the poet is to keep the door ajar that leads into madness." - Christopher Morley.

THE LAST WORD ON MADNESS

"Madness takes its toll. Please have exact change." - Author Unknown