“They Say” that there is a very fine line between genius and insanity, ie geniuses must fight off going insane- some are more successful than others it seems
Aristotle
“There is no great genius without a touch of madness.”
also
Robin Williams, whose suicidal death in 2014 was precipitated by Lewy Body Dementia: “You are only given a little spot of madness, and if you lose that, you are nothing.”
And
“Van Gogh was well aware of the line between sanity and insanity, and he knew when he was sane and when he was not. As he wrote to Theo in 1882, “As a patient, you are not free to work as one should, and not up to it either.”
To stay on the “safe” side of the line, van Gogh painted. “Work is the only remedy,” he wrote in 1883. “If that does not help, one breaks down.” Toggling between the safe harbor of productive genius and disabling insanity, van Gogh continued to paint—until he couldn’t. On the morning of July 27, 1890, he wandered off into a field near the Oise River and shot himself with a revolver.”