I have come to present the strong claims of suffering humanity. I come to place before the Legislature of Massachusetts the condition of the miserable, the desolate, the outcast. I come as the advocate of the helpless, forgotten, insane men and women… confined in cages, closets, cellars, stalls, pens! Chained, naked, beaten with rods, and lashed into obedience… I beg, I implore you [to] put away the spirit of selfishness and self-seeking. Lay off the armor of local strife and political ambition. Forget, I beg you, the earthly and perishable, the thought without mercy… Gentlemen, I commit you to a sacred cause!

—Dorothea Dix to the Massachusetts state legislature, December 18431

No one cares about crazy people.

—Kelly M. Rindfleisch, deputy chief of staff to then Milwaukee County executive Scott Walker, September 1, 2010