"Andrew On Prostitutes" 
by Gibran Khalil Gibran 

THE MADMAN

It was in the garden of a madhouse that I met a youth with a face pale and lovely and
full of wonder. And I sat beside him upon the bench, and I said, "Why are you here?"
And he looked at me in astonishment, and he said, "It is an unseemly question, yet I will
answer you. My father would make of me a reproduction of himself; so also 
would my uncle. My mother would have me the image of her seafaring husband as the
perfect example for me to follow. My brother thinks I should be like him, a fine athlete.
"And my teachers also, the doctor of philosophy, and the music-master, and the logician,
they too were determined, and each would have me but a reflection of his 
own face in a mirror. 

"Therefore I came to this place. I find it more sane here. At least, I can be myself." Then
of a sudden he turned to me and he said, "But tell me, were you also driven to this place
by education and good counsel?" 

And I answered, "No, I am a visitor." And he answered, "Oh, you are one of those who
live in the madhouse on the other side of the wall."