Marcus Aurelius, Meditations 11.38

The dispute then, he said, is not about any common matter, but about being a madman or not.

—Marcus Aurelius, Meditations, Book 11.38 (tr Long)

A friend and I were once walking through a fancy part of Boston, the one they now call the Financial District. There were skyscrapers packed with stockbrokers and lawyers making big money, and also streets packed with poor folks looking for spare change. My buddy tripped over the foot of a homeless man, and he got quite upset.

“You piece of crap, get a job! Man, you must be insane to live like you do! Insane! Insane! Insane!”

See, I did not at all like what he said, but I bit my tongue. Still, what he said stuck with me for years, and I would often ask myself: who was really insane, the suits in the offices, or the bums in the gutter?

Some people debate and argue to help them understand, but most people debate and argue to show how important they are. Usually, we debate and argue about petty things, about the outliers, about questions of partisan policy. It’s all quite mundane.

Do I really think that Mr. Who or Ms. What, from the Hippo Party or the Rhino Party respectively, are any different in their values? They smile, they pander, and they get donations at dinner parties. It will make absolutely no difference in my common life if one or the other wins this popularity contest.

Tax rates, worries about which wars we should fight, and the many ways to save the polar bears are all distractions from the deeper questions. Don’t give me a list of all the trendy things you will do. Tell me what you think is true and false, right and wrong, straight to the core. Reveal your character to me. Get naked for me, not in your body, but in your soul.

Show me whether you are sane or insane.

That is the only question that matters. Sanity and insanity are not about whether you wear a suit or wear rags. Sanity and insanity are not about whatever chemical imbalance the pharmaceutical companies are currently selling a product for. Sanity and insanity are not about holding a view that is popular or unpopular.

No. What makes us sane is not our obsession with flighty opinions, but a moral compass guided by sound reason. Know right from wrong, do right instead of wrong.

I recognize the sane man because he looks me in the eye, and he gives me a straight answer. There is no bullshit.

I recognize the insane man because he distracts me with trivialities. He doesn’t even understand himself. I can smell him from a mile away.

Who is truly insane, the homeless man, or the heartless man? 

Written in 7/2009