Who said “It is almost impossible to be a doctor and an honest man, but it is obscenely impossible…”?

Verified

Antonin Artaud. A published source records them saying or writing it.

SourceVan Gogh, the Man Suicided by Society (1947)

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“It is almost impossible to be a doctor and an honest man, but it is obscenely impossible to be a psychiatrist without at the same time bearing the stamp of the most incontestable madness: that of being unable to resist that old atavistic reflex of the mass of humanity, which makes any man of science who is absorbed by this mass a kind of natural and inborn enemy of all genius.”
— Antonin Artaud
VerifiedVan Gogh, the Man Suicided by Society (1947) · evidencePsychiatry

Cite this quote

For academic work, cite the original where you can: Van Gogh, the Man Suicided by Society (1947).

APA

Artaud, A. (n.d.). It is almost impossible to be a doctor and an honest man, but it is obscenely impossible to be a psychiatrist without at the same time bearing the stamp of the most incontestable madness: that of being unable to resist that old atavistic reflex of the mass of humanity, which makes any man of science who is absorbed by this mass a kind of natural and inborn enemy of all genius. [Quotation]. Famous Quotations Network. Retrieved October 24, 2026, from https://www.famous-quotations.com/quotes/17523-it-is-almost-impossible-to-be-a-doctor/

MLA

Artaud, Antonin. “It is almost impossible to be a doctor and an honest man, but it is obscenely impossible to be a psychiatrist without at the same time bearing the stamp of the most incontestable madness: that of being unable to resist that old atavistic reflex of the mass of humanity, which makes any man of science who is absorbed by this mass a kind of natural and inborn enemy of all genius.” Famous Quotations Network, https://www.famous-quotations.com/quotes/17523-it-is-almost-impossible-to-be-a-doctor/. Accessed 24 Oct. 2026.

Chicago

Artaud, Antonin. “It is almost impossible to be a doctor and an honest man, but it is obscenely impossible to be a psychiatrist without at the same time bearing the stamp of the most incontestable madness: that of being unable to resist that old atavistic reflex of the mass of humanity, which makes any man of science who is absorbed by this mass a kind of natural and inborn enemy of all genius.” Famous Quotations Network. Accessed October 24, 2026. https://www.famous-quotations.com/quotes/17523-it-is-almost-impossible-to-be-a-doctor/.

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“No one has ever written, painted, sculpted, modeled, built, or invented except literally to get out of hell.”
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“Hell is of this world and there are men who are unhappy escapees from hell, escapees destined ETERNALLY to reenact their escape.”
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“It is not opium which makes me work but its absence, and in order for me to feel its absence it must from time to time be present.”
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“So long as we have failed to eliminate any of the causes of human despair, we do not have the right to try to eliminate those means by which man tries to cleanse himself of despair.”
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“When we speak the word ''life,'' it must be understood we are not referring to life as we know it from its surface of fact, but to that fragile, fluctuating center which forms never reach.”
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All 24 Antonin Artaud quotes →