People are born crazy, all of them. At least that’s how Albert Ellis breaks it down. And with all the tragic ruckus surrounding him in his late years, I doubt that he would exclude himself from the fray:

I ask [Albert] Ellis what are the sources for most people’s problems and frustrations and anxieties and everything else if not, as Freud would say, events from early childhood, and he blurts out, “People are born crazy—all of them!” Then, fighting through a series of coughs, he adds, “As the Buddha said 2,500 years ago, they’re out of their fucking minds! —Behaviorists Behaving Badly

The current New York Magazine sites a famous survey among the members of the American Psychological Association to rank the 20th century’s most influential psychotherapists, according to the article, “Ellis came in second. Sigmund Freud was third.”

In his recent public drama that rivals a Shakespearean tragedy, Ellis has been ousted from the institute which bears his name. The irony, the intrigue, the scandal—it’s all unfolding right out in the open air, not unlike group therapy. A fitting illustration of REBT (Rational Emotive Behavior Therapy), which basically accepts the world, it’s humans, and the legions of nasty events which transpire therein. Sanity is merely a pragmatic personal strategy for navigating the social radioactivity.

And what’s not to love about Ellis’ frank style and spunk? For another dose, check this little interview with him from the Village Voice this past summer.