“Read like mad. But try to do it analytically - which can be hard, because the better and more compelling a novel is, the less conscious you will be of its devices. It's worth trying to figure those devices out, however: they might come in useful in your own work.” WritingTryingHardMightNovelFiguresConsciousMadDevicesCompelling Author:Sarah Waters
“Repression is an evolutionary adaptation permitting us to function under the burden of our expanded consciousness. For what we are conscious of could drive us mad.” ConsciousnessConsciousFunctionMadBurdenAdaptationRepression Book:Free Women, Free Men: Sex, Gender, Feminism Source: Free Women, Free Men: Sex, Gender, Feminism
“In fact, the influence of Schoenberg may be overwhelming on his followers, but the significance of his art is to be identified with influences of a more subtle kind - not the system, but the aesthetic, of his art. I am quite conscious of the fact that my Chansons madécasses are in no way Schoenbergian, but I do not know whether I ever should have been able to write them had Schoenberg never written.” KnowsWayShouldWritingKindMayHas BeensArtFactsAbleWrittenInfluenceConsciousArt IsShould HaveMadSubtleSignificanceFollowersOverwhelmingAestheticShould Have BeenSchoenberg Author:Maurice Ravel
“To feel our character, our personality, and our personal, hard-won history fade from being is to be exposed to whatever lies beneath these comforting, operational conveniences. What remains when the conscious and functioning self has been erased is mankind's fundamental condition – irrational, violent, guilt-wracked, despairing, and mad.” FeelsHas BeensSelfHardCharacterLyingConditionsMankindPersonalityConsciousFundamentalsRemainsMadGuiltViolentExposedFadesIrrationalComfortingConvenience Author:Peter Straub
“In general I was a good kid. It usually took a lot to make me mad. But once I reached the boiling point, I lost all rational control. Totally without thinking, when my anger was aroused, I grabbed the nearest brick, rock, or stick to bash someone. It was as if I had no conscious will in the matter.” IfsThinkingMatterKidsLostRocksConsciousMadSticksRationalBricksBoilingBashBoiling Point Author:Benjamin Carson