in praise of sanity

There is a kind of insanity in founding your whole existence and raison d'être on things that depend on the approval of others - such as academic work, theses, papers, whatever - especially when you're forced to make a living in an environment of widespread (though often covert) incivility and suspicion.

To carve a fierce, uncompromising self-sufficiency, to be able to be alone with yourself, to devote a significant amount of your time and space to some consuming passion or source of gratification regardless of what others say or think: is there any other way of preserving your sanity in these dark times?...