Quotes from O Alienista

Machado de Assis ·  56 pages

Rating: (5.8K votes)


“A loucura, objeto dos meus estudos, era até agora uma ilha perdida no oceano da razão; começo a suspeitar que é um continente.”
― Machado de Assis, quote from O Alienista


“Mas deveras estariam eles doido, e foram curados por mim, ou o que pareceu cura não foi mais do que a descoberta do perfeito desequilíbrio do cérebro?”
― Machado de Assis, quote from O Alienista


“Assim é que cada louco furioso era trancado em uma alcova na própria casa, e não curado, mas descurado até que a morte o vinha desfraldar do benefício da vida.”
― Machado de Assis, quote from O Alienista


“Nada tenho que ver com a ciência; mas, se tantos homens em quem supomos juízo são reclusos por dementes, quem nos afirma que o alienado não é o alienista?”
― Machado de Assis, quote from O Alienista


“His eyes, blind to external reality but highly perceptive in the realm of the inner life, rose from the book to the ceiling and returned to the book.”
― Machado de Assis, quote from O Alienista



“Demais, a Casa Verde é uma instituição pública; tal a aceitamos das mãos da câmara dissolvida. Há entretanto – por força que há de haver – um alvitre intermédio que restituiu o sossego ao espírito público”
― Machado de Assis, quote from O Alienista


“Imagem vivaz do gênio e do louco: um fita o presente, com todas as suas lágrimas e saudades, outro devassa o futuro com todas as suas auroras.”
― Machado de Assis, quote from O Alienista


“Simão Bacamarte entendeu desde logo reformar tão ruim costume; pediu licença à câmara para agasalhar e tratar no edifício que ia construir todos os loucos de Itaguaí e das demais vilas e cidades, mediante um estipêndio, que a câmara lhe daria quando a família do enfermo o não pudesse fazer.”
― Machado de Assis, quote from O Alienista


“[...] mas pode entrar no ânimo do governo eliminar a loucura? Não. E se o governo não a pode eliminar, está ao menos apto para discriminá-la, reconhecê-la? Também não; é matéria de Ciência.”
― Machado de Assis, quote from O Alienista


“[...] daí a alegação de que não havia regra para a completa sanidade mental.”
― Machado de Assis, quote from O Alienista



“O desfecho deste episódio da crônica itaguaiense é de tal ordem, e tão inesperado, que merecia nada menos de dez capítulo de exposição; mas contento-me com um que será o remate da narrativa, e um dos mais belos exemplos de convicção científica e abnegação humana.”
― Machado de Assis, quote from O Alienista


“A razão é o perfeito equilíbrio de todas as faculdades; fora daí insânia, insânia e só insânia.”
― Machado de Assis, quote from O Alienista


“- A Casa Verde é um cárcere privado – disse um médico sem clínica.”
― Machado de Assis, quote from O Alienista


“Destruamos o cárcere de vossos filhos e pais, de vossas mães e irmãos, de vossos parentes e amigos e de vós mesmos. Ou morrereis a pão e água, talvez a chicote, na masmorra daquele indigno.”
― Machado de Assis, quote from O Alienista


“Simão Bacamarte refletiu ainda um instante, e disse:
- Suponho o espírito humano uma vasta concha, o meu fim, Sr. Soares, é ver se posso extrair a pérola, que é a razão; por outros termos, demarquemos definitivamente os limites da razão e da loucura. A razão é o perfeito equilíbrio de todas as faculdades; fora daí insânia, insânia e insânia.”
― Machado de Assis, quote from O Alienista



“He had found in himself the perfect, undeniable case of insanity. He possessed wisdom, patience, tolerance, truthfulness, loyalty, and moral fortitude—all the qualities that go to make an utter madman.”
― Machado de Assis, quote from O Alienista


“Bacamarte evidenced neither vanity nor modesty; he listened in silence, as impassive as a stone god.”
― Machado de Assis, quote from O Alienista


“He discriminated against neither the avaricious nor the prodigal: both were committed to the asylum; this led people to say that the alienist's concept of madness included practically everybody.”
― Machado de Assis, quote from O Alienista


“He was happy because, after such a long study, experimentation, and struggle, he could at last affirm the ultimate truth: there never were and never would be any madmen in Itaguai or anywhere else.”
― Machado de Assis, quote from O Alienista


“Los locos de amor eran tres o cuatro, pero sólo les resultaban asombrosos por la curiosa índole de su delirio.”
― Machado de Assis, quote from O Alienista



“—Não nos dispersaremos. Se quereis os nossos cadáveres, podeis tomá-los; mas só os cadáveres; não levareis a nossa honra, o nosso crédito, os nossos direitos, e com eles a salvação de Itaguaí.”
― Machado de Assis, quote from O Alienista


“Till now, madness has been thought a small island in an ocean of sanity. I am beginning to suspect that it is not an island at all but a continent.”
― Machado de Assis, quote from O Alienista


About the author

Machado de Assis
Born place: in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
Born date June 21, 1839
See more on GoodReads

Popular quotes

“And out floated Eeyore.
"Eeyore!" cried everybody.
Looking very calm, very dignified, with his legs in the air, came Eeyore from beneath the bridge.
"It's Eeyore!" cried Roo, terribly excited.
"Is that so?" said Eeyore, getting caught up by a little eddy, and turning slowly round three times. "I wondered."
"I didn't know you were playing," said Roo.
"I'm not," said Eeyore.
"Eeyore, what are you doing there?" said Rabbit.
"I'll give you three guesses, Rabbit. Digging holes in the ground? Wrong. Leaping from branch to branch of a young oak-tree? Wrong. Waiting for somebody to help me out of the river? Right. Give Rabbit time, and he'll always get the answer."
"But, Eeyore," said Pooh in distress, "what can we--I mean, how shall we--do you think if we--"
"Yes," said Eeyore. "One of those would be just the thing. Thank you, Pooh.”
― A.A. Milne, quote from The House at Pooh Corner


“I see all of you, Rhys. And there is not one part that I do not love with everything I am.”
― Sarah J. Maas, quote from A Court of Wings and Ruin


“Henry Ward Beecher expressed the thought this way: "I can forgive but I cannot forget is another way of saying I cannot forgive.”
― Spencer W. Kimball, quote from The Miracle of Forgiveness


“Because, you see, God—whatever anyone chooses to call God—is one's highest conception of the highest possible. And whoever places his highest conception above his own possibility thinks very little of himself and his life. It's a rare gift, you know, to feel reverence for your own life and to want the best, the greatest, the highest possible, here, now, for your very own. To imagine a heaven and then not to dream of it, but to demand it.”
― Ayn Rand, quote from We the Living


“Even his highly emotional Italian mother didn't believe that true love could blossom overnight. Like his brothers and sisters-in-law, she wanted nothing more for him than to marry and start a family, but if he showed up at her doorstep and said that he'd met someone two days ago and knew she was the one for him, his mother would smack him with a broom, curse in Italian, and drag him to church, sure that he had some serious sins that needed confessing.”
― Nicholas Sparks, quote from True Believer


Interesting books

Ill Fares the Land
(2.8K)
Ill Fares the Land
by Tony Judt
God Is the Gospel: Meditations on God's Love as the Gift of Himself
(3K)
God Is the Gospel: M...
by John Piper
The Dervish House
(4K)
The Dervish House
by Ian McDonald
The Witch's Daughter
(23.2K)
The Witch's Daughter
by Paula Brackston
Love, Freedom, and Aloneness: The Koan of Relationships
(2.8K)
Love, Freedom, and A...
by Osho
Life Without Principle
(447)
Life Without Princip...
by Henry David Thoreau

About BookQuoters

BookQuoters is a community of passionate readers who enjoy sharing the most meaningful, memorable and interesting quotes from great books. As the world communicates more and more via texts, memes and sound bytes, short but profound quotes from books have become more relevant and important. For some of us a quote becomes a mantra, a goal or a philosophy by which we live. For all of us, quotes are a great way to remember a book and to carry with us the author’s best ideas.

We thoughtfully gather quotes from our favorite books, both classic and current, and choose the ones that are most thought-provoking. Each quote represents a book that is interesting, well written and has potential to enhance the reader’s life. We also accept submissions from our visitors and will select the quotes we feel are most appealing to the BookQuoters community.

Founded in 2023, BookQuoters has quickly become a large and vibrant community of people who share an affinity for books. Books are seen by some as a throwback to a previous world; conversely, gleaning the main ideas of a book via a quote or a quick summary is typical of the Information Age but is a habit disdained by some diehard readers. We feel that we have the best of both worlds at BookQuoters; we read books cover-to-cover but offer you some of the highlights. We hope you’ll join us.