>>1589This is going to be a blessed thread, calling it now.
My personal philosophy is heavily shaped by a few figures that I admire greatly. Incidentally, most of them would be considered madmen by common folk. One of the greats is Joshua Norton I, Emperor of the United States and Protector of Mexico.
As a young man, he found great success as a businessman in 1850s San Francisco. However, he found himself almost completely destitute after a swift and unfortunate change in the price of the rice he traded. In lieu of this tragedy, Norton walked off into the desert. When he finally returned roughly a year later, he promptly declared himself Emperor of the United States. He walked up to a tailor and ordered him to make some royal garments. And you know what? That's just what the tailor did.
Joshua had no money, no reputation, absolutely nothing. And yet, as far as everyone was concerned, Norton was indeed emperor. Policemen saluted him as he walked by. He maintained correspondence with such figures as Queen Victoria. He was an inspiration to prominent artists such as Mark Twain, who used him as inspiration for his character The King in The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn.
Once an angry mob of rioters marched towards chinatown with blood on their minds. The Emperor stood in their path, all alone. And what did he do? Did he command them to disperse, rant and puff and turn red in the face? No. He sat in the middle of the road and simply recited the Lord's prayer. And so the mob dispersed.
When he died, as all men must, he received an emperor's funeral even though he didn't have $10 to his name. Many people make pilgrimages to the site of his burial every year. He was a legendary madman, as I hope to be.