John Stuart Mill, who later was to become the
great English philosopher and economist, suffered a severe
attack of mental illness, in 1826, when he was twenty years
old. Szasz wrote that Mill was so overwhelmed by the
most severe mental and emotional depression that he sank
to the very depths of despair and was "suicidal" for many
months. This was in 1826 when methods of curing such
serious mental illness were not yet discovered. But...
when it became darkest for John Stuart Mill... the stars
came out. He completely reorganized his own personality,
rapidly developed one of the greatest and most logical of
minds, and became one of the greatest philosophers and
economists of his time.
"When it gets darkest, the stars come out."
One of the greatest thinkers of all time was
William James, the famed philosophical psychologist of
Harvard. He was physically frail in his youth, developed
severe psychosomatic symptoms affecting his eyes and
stomach by the time he was twenty-three. Two years later
he had to drop his studies entirely and go to Europe for
many treatments. However, his mental-emotional dis-
orders worsened and he suffered such extreme mental de-
pression that he often contemplated suicide: Then...
when it got darkest for William James... the stars came
out. He completely overcame and transcended his physical
and mental illness to become one of the greatest thinkers in
history, a giant in philosophy and psychology, a famed
writer, the most distinguished teacher at Harvard, whose
wisdom has provided guidance and inspiration for so many
of us through the years.