In his short story, "The Wise King", found in the book, "The Madman", Kahlil Gibran tells the story of a small kingdom where a witch poisons the water in the one well in the kingdom.  Everyone except the king and his lord chamberlain drinks from the well and is driven mad by the poisoned water.  The people all think that it is the king and his lord chamberlain who have gone mad because they are different from everyone else.  When the king hears this, in fear he drinks some of the poisoned water and gives some to his lord chamberlain so they will both be poisoned.  Now, of course, all of the people in the town rejoice because the king and lord chamberlain have become sane again.

    Of course, the king and lord chamberlain did not become sane again, they became crazy like everyone else.  So the lesson of this tale is that:
1) We should not assume that because the vast majority of people behave in a certain way, that it is the sane and proper way to behave.  In truth, the vast majority of people do some pretty crazy things such as eating foods known to cause cancer, taking risks just for the thrill of it, etc.  Most of all, they spend their lives in pursuit of things they will loose at death while ignoring their immortal spirit and soul.
2) We should not be afraid, like the king, to be different.  Sometimes, being different is actually the only sane thing to do.  Especially when it come to matters of the spirit and soul.