“Isaac Newton spent just as much time obsessively decoding biblical prophecies and predicting the end of the world as he did revolutionizing our understanding of physics. Florence Nightingale revolutionized the practice of health care even as she was racked with intense despair for much of her life. John Nash, the founder of game theory, was a paranoid schizophrenic.

I am not telling you to go out and contract a case of clinical depression or paranoid schizophrenia. I'm just reminding you that excellence is often irrational. Greatness is often strange. Beauty is often odd. ”

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