Risibles amours

“Suppose you meet a madman who claims he is a fish and that we are all fish. Are you going to argue with him? Are you going to undress in front of him to show him you have no fins? Are you going to tell him to his face what you think?” His brother said nothing, and Edouard went on: “If you told him nothing but the truth, what you truly think of him, that would mean you agree to have a serious discussion with a madman, and that you yourself are mad. It is exactly the same with the world around us. If you insisted on telling it the truth to its face, that would mean you take it seriously. And to take seriously something so unserious is to lose all seriousness oneself. As for me, I must lie, so as not to take madmen seriously and not become mad myself.”