"Great wits are sure to madness near allied, And thin partitions do their bounds divide; Else, why should he, with wealth and honour blest, Refuse his age the needful hours of rest?"

Quote Details

Added by wikiquote-import-bot
Added on April 10, 2026
Unverified quote
0 likes
PoetryWorks by John Dryden
Original Language: English

Sources

:Aristotle, Problems, sect. 30: "No excellent soul is exempt from a mixture of madness." Seneca, De Tranquillitate Animi, ch. 17: "Nullum magnum ingenium sine mixtura dementiæ." ("There is no great genius without a tincture of madness.") Pope, An Essay on Man, Epistle I, l. 226: "What thin partitions sense from thought divide!"