In the psychopathic temperament we have the emotionality which is the sine qua non of moral perception; we have the intensity and tendency to emphasis which are the essence of practical moral vigor; and we have the love of metaphysics and mysticism which carry one's interests beyond the surface of the sensible world. What, then, is more natural than that this temperament should introduce one to regions of religious truth, to corners of the universe, which your robust Philistine type of nervous system, forever offering its biceps to be felt, thumping its breast, and thanking Heaven that it hasn't a single morbid fibre in its composition, would be sure to hide forever from its self-satisfied possessors?
If there were such a thing as inspiration from a higher realm, it might well be that the neurotic temperament would furnish the chief condition of the requisite receptivity.
- William James
What keeps most people from suffering very much is lack of imagination.... Everything great that we know has come to us from neurotics. It is they and only they who have founded religions and created great works of art. Never will the world be aware of how much it owes to them, nor, above all, what they have suffered in order to bestow their gifts upon it."
- Marcel Proust
"There is in every madman a misunderstood genius, whose idea, shining in his head, frightened people, and for whom delirium was the only solution to the strangulation that life had prepared for him." –Antonin Artaud
And anyone who has something to say. “Wise men speak because they have something to say; Fools because they have to say something.†~ Plato ... And anyone who fits this description: "I love him whose soul is deep, even in being wounded, and who can perish of a small experience: thus he goes gladly over the bridge." - Nietzsche
recommended listening: NIRVANA, daniel johnston, jeff mangum, neutral milk hotel, primus, jane's addiction, the police, pj harvey, regina spektor, joni mitchell, ween, weezer, the velvet underground, lou reed, smashing pumpkins, radiohead, NIN, desaparecidos, white stripes, foo fighters, john lennon, the beatles, the ramones, led zeppelin, the who, queen, the cars, talking heads, violent femmes, bob marley, cat stevens, leonard cohen, neil young, simon and garfunkle, cream, frank zappa, david bowie, sebadoh, folk implosion, massive attack, postal service, songs: ohia, antony and the johnsons, marth wainwright, the shins, tegan and sara, belle and sebastian, modest mouse, the moldy peaches, beck, tom waits, bob dylan, joan baez, palace brothers, will oldham, tori amos, amie mann, patsy cline, elliot smith, bright eyes, hope sandoval and the warm inventions, broadcast, iron and wine, tool, yeah yeah yeahs, the cure, bjork, yes, air, portishead, the pixies...
recommended viewing: the elephant man, fargo, faces, the devil and daniel johnston, magnolia, the shining, buffalo '66, dead man walking, ran, the world of apu, dead man, sling blade, my dinner with andre, breaking the waves, heavenly creatures, the passion of the christ, the passion of joan of arc, jesus of nazareth, goodfellas, taxi driver, the color of money, true romance, saturday night fever, a clockwork orange, barry lyndon, happy feet, chopper, the grey zone, gummo, julien donkey-boy, bully, house of flying daggers, who's afraid of virginia woolfe?, elephant, shaun of the dead, trainspotting, the 400 blows, pather panchali, aparajito, spring summer fall winter.. and spring, boogie nights, punch drunk love, pleasantville, welcome to the dollhouse, happiness, storytelling, raising arizona, throne of blood, say anything, dogfight, waking life, donnie darko, heathers, dead poets society, spirited away, amelie, joe the king, me and you and everyone we know, raising victor vargas, good will hunting, the bicycle theif, umberto d, pulp fiction, memento, requiem for a dream, Nijinsky (or, the diaries of vaslav nijinsky), a huey p. newton story, the quiet room, the breakfast club, stand by me, the lost boys, basketball diaries, city of lost children, delicatessen, the princess bride, this is spinal tap, waiting for guffman, best in show, a mighty wind, Lord of the rings trilogy, hamlet ('91), Willy Wonka and the chocolate factory, napoleon dynamite, Ikiru (To Live), rushmore, the royal tenenbaums, the life aquatic, hurley burley, i heart huckabees, the truman show, whale rider, andre rubliev, jackie brown, reservoir dogs, kill bill, bottle rocket, whats eating gilbert grape, vanilla sky, before sunrise, slacker, a scanner darkly, natural born killers, virgin suicides, american beauty, pi; faith in chaos, the fisher king, harold and maude, edward scizzorhands, the butcher boy, labrynth, the ice storm, 3 o'clock high, kids in the hall Brain Candy, monty python's quest for the holy grail, defending your life, Miller's Crossing, The Godfather I,II, Full Metal Jacket, Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon, Dances With Wolves, Last of the Mohicans, Swingers, Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas, the big lebowski, blood simple, Rebel Without a Cause, Splendor in the Grass, A Place In The Sun, Giant, Cool Hand Luke, The Hustler, mr. smith goes to washington, its a wonderful life, and more!
sometimes: the simpsons, the sarah silverman program, south park, family guy, the daily show, colbert report, saturday night live, conan o'brien, inside the actors studio, curb your enthusiasm, da ali G show
While I am writing, I am far away; and when I come back, I have already left. ~ Pablo Neruda recommended reading: Thus Spoke Zarathustra (kaufmann translation), the brothers karamazov (andrew macandrew trans.) and most anything by fyodor dostoevsky; in search of lost time; ressurrection (vera trail trans.), the cloud of unknowing, the essays and religious/philosophical writings of tolstoy, montaigne, schoepenhauer, seneca, plotinus, proclus, ficino, bacon, nicholas of cusa, and emerson; the death of ivan illych and other stories, the stories of kafka, chekov, leskov, chateaubriand, gide, and nerval, hamlet prince of denmark, leaves of grass, the way of chuang-tzu, the toa te ching, the hua hu ching, yoga sutras of patanjali, the diamond sutra, the bhagavad-gita, the ashtavakra gita, gitanjali, the king james bible (esp. the gospel of luke, the epistle to the romans, ecclessiastes, and the book of job), revelations of divine love, selected writings of meister eckhart, the verses of rumi, omar, sanai, shakespeare, joyce, shelley, baudelaire, neruda, blake, and rilke; anna karenina, the catcher in the rye, franny and zooey, nine stories, raise high the roof beam carpenters, 1984, don quixote, wise blood, the violent bear it away, the fixer, beneath the wheel, siddhartha, demian, narcissus and goldmund, this side of paradise, a prayer for owen meany, a confederacy of dunces, madness and genius, saints and madmen, the astrological writings of Jeffrey Woolf Green, Liz Greene, Dane Rudhyar, Rob Hand, Alice Bailey, and Stephen Arroyo, Meditations on the Tarot; a Journey into Christian Hermeticism, The Kybalion, The Secret Teachings of All Ages by Manly P. Hall, The Science of Mind by Ernest Holmes, and Care of the Soul by Thomas Moore