“It is as though there is something about sanity that we don’t want to go into, that we shy away from. And in this sense sanity is more like a forbidden object of desire: something we are dissuaded from being interested in but can never get away from. And like all forbidden objects of desire—like the man or woman of our dreams—it brings with it the fear that it may not exist, and the wish that it does not exist (after all, if it does exist, what are we going to do with it when we find it?). We tend to downplay sanity’s significance, but are somehow attracted to it. Just as we never know whether something is a figment because it is forbidden, or forbidden because it is in fact a figment, we are never quite sure whether sanity is worth bothering with.”