William Shakespeare · Hamlet, c. 1600

Though this be madness,
yet there is method in’t.

Hamlet has decided to act mad so he can expose his father’s murderer. The king’s counsellor Polonius tries to work out what is wrong with the prince, and gets only mocking riddles in reply: “Words, words, words.”

Aside to the audience, Polonius admits that the answers are strangely sharp: “Though this be madness, yet there is method in’t.” The audience knows the madness is an act. The line has lived on as a proverb ever since.