So when you find yourself locked onto an unpleasant train of thought, heading for the places in your past where the screaming is unbearable, remember there's always madness. Madness is the emergency exit.

MEMORY'S SO <b>
<i>TREACHEROUS.</i>
</b> ONE MOMENT YOU'RE LOST IN A <b>
<i>CARNIVAL</i>
</b> OF <b>
<i>DELIGHTS,</i>
</b> WITH POIGNANT CHILDHOOD <b>
<i>AROMAS</i>
</b>, THE FLASHING NEON OF <b>
<i>PUBERTY,</i>
</b> ALL THAT SENTIMENTAL <b>
<i>CANDY-FLOSS</i>
</b>...

THE <b>
<i>NEXT</i>
</b>, IT LEADS YOU SOMEWHERE YOU DON'T WANT TO <b>GO...</b>

...SOMEWHERE <b>
<i>DARK</i>
</b> AND <b>
<i>COLD,</i>
</b> FILLED WITH THE DAMP, AMBIGUOUS SHAPES OF THINKS YOU'D HOPED WERE <b>
<i>FORGOTTEN.</i>
</b>

<b>
<i>MEMORIES</i>
</b> CAN BE <b>
<i>VILE, REPULSIVE</i>
</b> LITTLE <b>
<i>BRUTES.</i>
</b> LIKE <b>
<i>CHILDREN,</i>
</b> I SUPPOSE. <b>
<i>HAHA.</i>
</b>

BUT CAN WE LIVE <b>
<i>WITHOUT</i>
</b> THEM? <b>
<i>MEMORIES</i>
</b> ARE WHAT OUR <b>
<i>REASON</i>
</b> IS BASED UPON. IF WE CAN'T <b>
<i>FACE</i>
</b> THEM, WE DENY REASON ITSELF!

ALGHOUGH, WHY <b>
<i>NOT?</i>
</b> WE AREN'T <b>
<i>CONTRACTUALLY TIED DOWN</i>
</b> TO <b>
<i>RATIONALITY!</i>
</b>

THERE <b>
<i>IS</i>
</b> NO <b>
<i>SANITY CLAUSE!</i>
</b>

SO WHEN YOU FIND YOURSELF LOCKED ONTO AN UNPLEASANT TRAIN OF THOUGHT, HEADING FOR THE PLACES IN YOUR PAST WHERE THE SCREAMING IS <b>
<i>UNBEARABLE,</i>
</b> REMEMBER THERE'S ALWAYS <b>
<i>MADNESS.</i>
</b>

<b>
<i>MADNESS</i>
</b> IS THE <b>
<i>EMERGENCY EXIT...</i>
</b>

YOU CAN JUST STEP <b>
<i>OUTSIDE,</i>
</b> AND CLOSE THE DOOR ON ALL THOSE DREADFUL THINGS THAT HAPPENED. YOU CAN LOCK THEM <b>
<i>AWAY...</i>
</b>

FOREVER.

Enough madness? Enough? And how do you measure madness? - The Joker

"Remembering's dangerous. I find the past such a worrying, anxious place. "The Past Tense," I suppose you'd call it. Memory's so treacherous. One moment you're lost in a carnival of delights, with poignant childhood aromas, the flashing neon of puberty, all that sentimental candy-floss... the next, it leads you somewhere you don't want to go. Somewhere dark and cold, filled with the damp ambiguous shapes of things you'd hoped were forgotten. Memories can be vile, repulsive little brutes. Like children I suppose. But can we live without them? Memories are what our reason is based upon. If we can't face them, we deny reason itself! Although, why not? We aren't contractually tied down to rationality! There is no sanity clause! So when you find yourself locked onto an unpleasant train of thought, heading for the places in your past where the screaming is unbearable, remember there's always madness. Madness is the emergency exit… you can just step outside, and close the door on all those dreadful things that happened. You can lock them away… forever."

Memories can be vile. Repulsive little brutes, like children I suppose. But can we live without them? Memories are what our reason is based upon. If we can't face them, we deny reason itself! Although, why not? We aren't contractually tied down to rationality. There is no sanity clause. So when you find yourself locked down in an unpleasant train of thought, heading for the places in your past where the screaming is unbearable, remember: There's always madness. You can just step outside and close the door, and all those dreadful things that happened, you can lock them away. Madness... is an emergency exit.

There must be some kind of way out of here,' said the joker to the thief...

Madness need not be all breakdown. It may also be break-through. It is potential liberation and renewal as well as enslavement and existential death.

This place has only three exits, sir: Madness, and Death.

Madness is somewhere between chaos and having a dream.

You see madness is like gravity, all it needs is a little push! — Heath Ledger [Joker] The Dark Knight (2008) Directed by Christopher Nolan

Where does madness leave off and reality begin?

So, am I a madman or a joker? Or simply a scribbler?

Madness is the WHO staring into the abyss and denying it is there. Madness is an ostrich who sticks her head in the sand while a pack of hyenas closes around her. - Lanky Man with green eyes

[He]... watches the Joker rising from his wheelchair, the way a rabbit watches car headlights bearing down, unable to move a single, spotlit muscle. The madman's limbs appear to unlatch as though some psychotic god has chosen to give life to a complicated Swiss Army knife. The Joker's head rotates... the green lasers of his eyes target the keys at the big man's belt, and he shakes his head.