I was walking through the gardens of a mental health hospital when I noticed a young man sitting quietly and reading a philosophy book.
He looked calm, healthy, and completely different from the other patients.
Curious, I approached him.
“You seem quite different from everyone else here,” I said. “Why are you staying at the hospital?”
The young man smiled.
“I’ll tell you, but first let me ask you something.”
He pointed toward the book in his hands.
“Do you believe a person is crazy simply because they think differently from everyone else?”
I thought for a moment.
“Not necessarily.”
He nodded.
“That’s exactly what I believe.”
“So why are you here?”
He closed his book and smiled.
“Because everyone else believes I’m crazy.”
I laughed.
“Then perhaps you’re not as crazy as they think.”
The young man opened his book again.
“Maybe. But there’s one thing I’ve learned.”
“What?”
“Sometimes the smartest thing you can do is question what everyone else considers normal.”
He returned to reading, leaving me wondering whether wisdom and madness might sometimes look surprisingly similar.
