The Exception
I dance upon the wash-house roof,
And fill my hair with straws,
And from my fellows keep aloof.
I'll tell you why. because
The glare in every eye I see,
I hear their talk inane;
For, sure as two and two are three,
All, all are mad as mad can be,
And I alone am sane.
Jones says, if we grow too much bread
The people may not eat;
And Smith declares in nervous dread,
More boots mean more bare feet.
Black says the price of gold must jump
Ere men was rich again.
White says the price of gold must slump;
For all the world is off its chump,
And I alone am sane.
I laugh and stand upon my head
Upon the wash-house roof.
If such an act men did not dread,
I'm sure and certain proof
They'd see me right side up. Why not?
The thing's as plain as plain.
But they look grave and gabble rot,
For all the world is off its dot,
And I alone am sane.
I am the great economist;
I stick straws in my locks;
For I've the truth that all have missed
In this world's paradox.
If all mankind would but agree
(Here lies our only hope)
That two and two must equal three,
They'd all grow sane again, like me;
And I'd stop chewing soap.
poem by Clarence Michael James Stanislaus Dennis
Submitted by Poetry Lover
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Related quotes
Extraordinary
You think that I go home at night
Take off my clothes, turn out the lights
But I burn letters that I write
To you, to make you love me
Yeah, I'd drive naked through the park
And run the stop sign in the dark
Stand in the street, yell out my heart
To you, to make you love me
I am extraordinary, if you'd ever get to know me
I am extraordinary, I am just your ordinary
Average every day sane psycho
Supergoddess
Average every day sane psycho
You may not believe in me
But I believe in you
So I still take the trash out
Does that make me too normal for you?
So dig a little deeper, cause
You still don't get it yet
See me lickin' my lips, need a primitive fix
And I'll make, I'll make you love me
I am extraordinary, if you'd ever get to know me
I am extraordinary, I am just your ordinary
Average every day sane psycho
Supergoddess
Average every day sane psycho
Supergoddess
See me jump through hoops for you
You stand there watching me performing
What exactly do you do?
Have you ever thought it's you that's boring?
Who the hell are you?
I am extraordinary, if you'd ever get to know me
I am extraordinary, I am just your ordinary
Average every day sane psycho
Supergoddess
Average every day sane psycho
Average every day sane psycho
Supergoddess
Average every day sane psycho
Average every day sane psycho
Supergoddess
Average every day sane psycho
Average every day sane psycho
song performed by by Liz Phair
Submitted by Lucian Velea
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Twisted Words
We use words to our advantage, you and me
Calling ourselves crazy and sane alternately.
If crazy means crazy as we define it, we are sane definitely
But if sane is sane as the world describes it, we'll be crazy happily!
poem by Shipra Agarwal
Submitted by Poetry Lover
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Proof
Soon our fortunes will be made, my darling
And we will leave this loathsome little town
Silver bells jingling from your black lizard boots, my baby
Silver foil to trim your wedding gown
Its true the tools of love wear down
Time passes
A mind wanders
It seems mindless, but it does
Sometimes I see you face
As if through reading glasses
And your smile seems softer than it was
Proof
Some people gonna call you up
Tell you something that you already know
Proof
Sane people go crazy on you
Say no man, that was not
The deal we made
I got to go, I got to go
Faith
Faith is an island in the setting sun
But proof, yes
Proof is the bottom line for everyone
My face, my race
Dont matter anymore
My sex, my cheques
Accepted at the door
Proof
Some people gonna call you up
Tell you something that you already know
Proof
Sane people go crazy on you
Say no man, that was not
The deal we made
I got to, I got to go
Faith
Faith is an island in the setting sun
But proof, yes
Proof is the bottom line for everyone
Half moon hiding in the clouds, my darling
And the sky is flecked with signs of hope
Raise your weary wings against the rain, my baby
Wash your tangled curls with gamblers soap
Proof
Some people gonna call you up
Tell you something that you already know
Sane people go crazy on you
Say no man, that was not
The deal we made
I got to, I got to, I got to
Faith
Faith is an island in the setting sun
But proof, yes
Proof is the bottom line for everyone
song performed by by Paul Simon
Submitted by Lucian Velea
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Hate Stinger
For all of time we had a man
Who had a frozen heart
Hes standig on a hill
And sees the morning come
Fear and rage - destruction
He made a world of pain
Hate and sin - confession
He craved a senseless crime
cause hes a sane killer - he takes you by surprise
Hes a sane killer - stares into your eyes
Hes a hate stinger - nothing left to chance
Hes a sane killer - and hes the last to dance
Just in time he finds the way
To do without the lies
Its time to bruise and maim
Stripped of all disguise
Fear and rage - destruction
No warning or a sign
Hate and sin - confession
Hes deadly from behind
cause hes a sane killer - he takes you by surprise
Hes a sane killer - stares into your eyes
Hes a hate stinger - nothing left to chance
Hes a sane killer - and hes the last to dance
The devil rings - we pay the rent
The cruellest cut of all
We built the road he travelled on
The lessons come to call
So look for signs behind the eyes
Destructor of us all
Stands alone deathly still
The stealer has arrived
Fear and rage - destruction
He made a world of pain
Hate and sin - confession
He craved a senseless crime
cause hes a sane killer - he takes you by surprise
Hes a sane killer - stares into your eyes
Hes a hate stinger - nothing left to chance
Hes a sane killer - and hes the last to dance
cause hes a sane killer - he takes you by surprise
Hes a sane killer - stares into your eyes
Hes a hate stinger - nothing left to chance
Hes a sane killer - and hes the last to dance
song performed by by U. D. O.
Submitted by Lucian Velea
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Aladdin Sane
Watching him dash away, swinging an old bouquet - dead roses
Sake and strange divine uh-hu-hu-uh-hu-hu youll make it
Passionate bright young things, takes him away to war - dont fake it
Sadden glissando strings
Uh-hu-hu-uh-hu-hu - youll make it
Wholl love aladdin sane
Battle cries and champagne just in time for sunrise
Wholl love aladdin sane
Motor sensational, paris or maybe hell - (Im waiting)
Clutches of sad remains
Waits for aladdin sane - youll make it
Oooh wholl love aladdin sane
Millions weep a fountain, just in case of sunrise
Oooh wholl love aladdin sane
Well love aladdin sane
Love aladdin sane
Oooh wholl love aladdin sane
Millions weep a fountain, just in case of sunrise
Oooh wholl love aladdin sane
Well love aladdin sane
Well love aladdin sane
Oooh wholl love aladdin sane
Millions weep a fountain, just in case of sunrise
Oooh wholl love aladdin sane
Well love aladdin sane
Wholl love aladdin sane
See the lights shine oh so bright on broadway
song performed by by David Bowie
Submitted by Lucian Velea
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Fruit Nut
Tending my fruit, tending my fruit
Ah youve got to have a hobby
A man must have a shed to keep him sane
Spraying my buds, spraying my buds
Got to keep away diseases
I mix the poisons and the wife dont complain
Some people say
That I am out of my tree
Or just a strawberry fool
Someday theyll see
til then Ill blow you a raspberry
cos apples and pears are me
So Im tending my fruit
And I dont give a hoot
cos it keeps me sane, it keeps me sane
Some people say
That I am out of my tree
Or just a strawberry fool
Someday theyll see
til then Ill blow you a raspberry
cos apples and pears are me
So Im tending my fruit, tending my fruit
Ah youve got to have a hobby
A man must have a shed to keep him sane
To keep him sane, to keep him sane, to keep him sane
Oh the wife cant complain
To keep him sane, to keep him sane, yeah keeps him sane
Yeah to keep him sane, to keep him sane, yeah it keeps him sane
song performed by by Xtc
Submitted by Lucian Velea
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Fruit Nut
Tending my fruit, tending my fruit
Ah youve got to have a hobby
A man must have a shed to keep him sane
Spraying my buds, spraying my buds
Got to keep away diseases
I mix the poisons and the wife dont complain
Some people say
That I am out of my tree
Or just a strawberry fool
Someday theyll see
til then Ill blow you a raspberry
cos apples and pears are me
So Im tending my fruit
And I dont give a hoot
cos it keeps me sane, it keeps me sane
Some people say
That I am out of my tree
Or just a strawberry fool
Someday theyll see
til then Ill blow you a raspberry
cos apples and pears are me
So Im tending my fruit, tending my fruit
Ah youve got to have a hobby
A man must have a shed to keep him sane
To keep him sane, to keep him sane, to keep him sane
Oh the wife cant complain
To keep him sane, to keep him sane, yeah keeps him sane
Yeah to keep him sane, to keep him sane, yeah it keeps him sane
song performed by by Xtc
Submitted by Lucian Velea
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Shock And Terror
the psychotic dress the senseless feature
it terrifies every living creature
predictability is wearing thin
groundbreaking practice for the preacher
clowns mortified by my expression
breathing new life into invention
and gagging the maggots with a weary hand
has failed to leave any impression
the shock and terror keeps me sane
the shock and terror keeps me sane
does anybody feel the same?
the shock and terror keeps me sane
up now for seven days and wired
the concept of sleep is way too tired
and I've dialed in a plan to reinstate
your sense of humor has expired
the shock and terror keeps me sane
the shock and terror keeps me sane
does anybody feel the same?
the shock and terror keeps me sane
song performed by by Cky from Infiltrate - Destroy - Rebuild
Submitted by Lucian Velea
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Brain
Lord giveth the brain
To be sane
Which we all
Have profaned.
Made amongst us
Few insane
Mirrored reflection
For the sane.
But this brain
Of the sane
Has become
A source of bane.
Boon!
For him
Who
Lacks the brain.
No I, No my
No boundaries
To restrict
The flight.
Oh brain
Why
Thou has
This animal tamed.
poem by Sanjay Mehta
Submitted by Poetry Lover
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Perhaps it is better to be un-sane and happy, than sane and un-happy. But it is the best of all to be sane and happy. Whether our descendants can achieve that goal will be the greatest challenge of the future. Indeed, it may well decide whether we have any future.
quote by Arthur C. Clarke
Submitted by Catalin Popescu
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Mid-Winter Monody
There's a bleak, black world without,
And the rain falls fast;
And the wind, with a whine and a shout,
Blows buffeting past
To wail thro' the tortured trees,
With cold wet breath,
Like a choir of dank banshees
Foretelling death.
I sit by the fire and I now,
And I juggle with rhymes.
Oh, the ways of our world grow odd,
And the trend of our times.
My tired eyes roam the news,
These columns tell
Of earth and its warring views,
And I sigh, 'Well, well!'
Idly I turn the page;
And I ponder then
Of the hopes and the dreams and the rage
And the folly of men.
What profits this modern show?
And where do we gain?
But - twenty short years ago,
Ah, then we were sane!
Speed-drunk and pleasure-crazed
We ravage and waste,
Dull, sentient things, half-dazed
By our own mad haste;
Selling content for gold,
Our peace for a fad.
Alas, for the wisdom of old!
We are mad! stark mad!
How, when, came earth's golden age
If ever it shone?
Wise years of the saint and the sage,
These are gone - long gone,
Never to blossom again
'Mid a peace well-won,
In a world of the simply sane.
We are doomed! We are done!
When a score more years drift on,
Then another shall dwell,
Here in my place, when I've gone.
And he'll sigh, 'Well, well!
What profits this modern show?
And where do we gain?
But - twenty short years ago,
Ah, then we were sane!'
poem by Clarence Michael James Stanislaus Dennis
Submitted by Poetry Lover
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Mad People
It has been said
That mad people talk to themselves
The person who said this, made sure he said it
To a room full of people
Who apparently were engaged in some interesting conversations
With the four walls
Who all appeared to be listening
Because no one heard them reply
It has been said by the sane
That mad people scream and cry and repeat themselves
Over, and over again
This was said several tines over by the man who declared he was sane
It was said that mad people have lost their head
Go for weeks sometimes days unwashed unfed
Without sleep
The man who was sane denied his insomnia
His lack of dress sense and personal hygiene
And poor dietary intake
Siting that he was suffering from an acute attack
Of water on the brain
Which was relieved by standing on his head
Not making his bed
Going for days sometimes weeks unwashed and unfed
When asked about 'Care in the Community? '
He said he didn't care, and appeared to be talking to somebody
That wasn't there
'Mad people! ' he screamed
'They all should be locked up, and throw away the keys'
At that point, I left him quite still, in his padded cell
Safe and locked in to ponder these famous words
'If man is born free, why is he still in chains? '
poem by Yvette Smith
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No sane man can afford to dispense with debilitating pleasures; no ascetic can be considered reliably sane.
quote by Robert M. Parker, Jr.
Submitted by Lucian Velea
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Madness is tonic and invigorating. It makes the sane more sane. The only ones who are unable to profit by it are the insane.
quote by Henry Miller
Submitted by Lucian Velea
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The difference between mad people and sane people... is that sane people have variety when they talk-story. Mad people have only one story that they talk over and over.
quote by Maxine Hong Kingston
Submitted by Lucian Velea
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Depressed Vilanelle
They say depression's like exhaustion of the brain
And medication's there to help us cope.
A daily tablet keeps me nearly sane
When life brings sorrow over and again
The mind lacks even energy to mope,
They say depression's like exhaustion of the brain.
All passion and desire go down the drain
Soon followed by enthusiasm, hope,
A daily tablet keeps me nearly sane.
Give up the struggle. What is there to gain?
Recovery becomes a slippery slope.
They say depression's like exhaustion of the brain.
But medication's there to ease the pain,
Reduce the gradient as back to life we grope:
A daily tablet keeps me nearly sane.
So praise the Prozac in sonnet or quatrain.
It keeps a chap from Paraquat or rope.
They say depression's like exhaustion of the brain:
A daily tablet keeps me nearly sane.
poem by Pat Duggan
Submitted by Poetry Lover
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The sane appear as strange to the mad as the mad to the sane.
Joe Orton in What the Butler Saw
Submitted by Lucian Velea
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Buddha Of Suburbia
Living in lies by the railway line
Pushing the hair from my eyes
Elvis is english and climbs the hills
Cant tell the bullshit from the lies
Screaming along in south london
Vicious but ready to learn
Sometimes I fear that the whole world is queer
Sometimes but always in vain
So Ill wait until were sane
Wait until were blessed and all the same
Full of blood, loving life and all its got to give
Englishmen going insane
Down on my knees in suburbia
Down on myself in every way
With great expectations I change all my clothes
Mustnt crumble at silver and gold
Screaming above central london
Never born, so Ill never get old
So Ill wait until were sane
Wait until were blessed and all the same
Full of blood, loving life and all its got to give
Englishmen going insane
Down on my knees in suburbia
Down on myself in every way
Day after
Day after
Day
Day after
Zane, zane, zane
Ouvre le chien
Day after
Day
Day after
Zane, zane, zane
Ouvre le chien
Day after
song performed by by David Bowie
Submitted by Lucian Velea
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Buddha Of Suburbia
Written by: david bowie
Living in lies by the railway line
Pushing the hair from my eyes
Elvis is english and climbs the hills
Cant tell the bullshit from the lies
Screaming along in south london
Vicious but ready to learn
Sometimes I fear that the whole world is queer
Sometimes but always in vain
So Ill wait until were sane
Wait until were blessed and all the same
Full of blood, loving life and all its got to give
Englishman going insane
Down on my knees in suburbia
Down on myself in every way
With great expectations I change all my clothes
Mustnt grumble at silver and gold
Screaming above central london
Never bored, so Ill never get old
So Ill wait until were sane
Wait until were blessed and all the same
Full of blood, loving life and all its got to give
Englishman going insane
Down on my knees in suburbia
Down on myself in every way
Day after
Day after
Day
Day after
Zane, zane, zane
Ouvre le chien
Day after
Day
Day after
Zane, zane, zane
Ouvre le chien
Day after
song performed by by Lenny Kravitz
Submitted by Lucian Velea
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Be So Boy
The riches I emerge with are strange so cold,
Innocent gold! Higher wealth is around that is told.
A rich man hurried towards his house
Finding a woman called his wife with a white blouse.
The rich life has arrived for all the luck,
Melting far away, just far too far like muck.
The gambler is to be, a corpulent man
Shall pain the hurt, the sane man is in Afghanistan.
How rich will life be now that gold is not silver?
Silver is like a snake, whilst gold shines so quieter.
My wife likes new clothes and new food
In the realm of our understanding, our attitude.
You shall blame the innocence of tense muscles,
You shall climb new veins with blood and angels.
May life enjoy, feel too much a toy,
And then let Winston Churchill be so boy.
poem by Naveed Akram
Submitted by Poetry Lover
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