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Quotes

Faith is to believe what you do not see; the reward of this faith is to see what you believe.

—Saint Augustine, c. 400

Bid me discourse, I will enchant thine ear.

—William Shakespeare, 1592

Nothing is so easy to fake as the inner vision.

—Robertson Davies, 1985

Nothing is so easy as to deceive one’s self; for what we wish, that we readily believe.

—Demosthenes, 349 BC

Everything that deceives does so by casting a spell.

—Plato, c. 375 BC

Men willingly believe what they wish.

—Julius Caesar, c. 50 BC

To ensure the adoration of a theorem for any length of time, faith is not enough; a police force is needed as well.

—Albert Camus, 1951

Appearances often are deceiving.

—Aesop, c. 550 BC

In the past, men created witches; now they create mental patients.

—Thomas Szasz, 1970

One thing alone not even God can do: to make undone whatever has been done.

—Aristotle, c. 350 BC

The fact is certain because it is impossible.

—Tertullian, c. 200

Any serious attempt to do anything worthwhile is ritualistic.

—Derek Walcott, 1986

To blow and to swallow at the same time is not easy; I cannot at the same time be here and also there.

—Plautus, c. 200 BC