Egypt was the mother of magicians.
—Clement of Alexandria, c. 200Quotes
In the past, men created witches; now they create mental patients.
—Thomas Szasz, 1970I shall curse you with book and bell and candle.
—Thomas Malory, c. 1470Once something becomes discernible, or understandable, we no longer need to repeat it. We can destroy it.
—Robert Wilson, 1991The believer in magic and miracles reflects on how to impose a law on nature—and, in brief, the religious cult is the outcome of this reflection.
—Friedrich Nietzsche, 1878Many are the wonders of the world, and none so wonderful as man.
—Sophocles, c. 441 BCAny serious attempt to do anything worthwhile is ritualistic.
—Derek Walcott, 1986Everything that deceives does so by casting a spell.
—Plato, c. 375 BCA miracle entails a degree of irrationality—not because it shocks reason, but because it makes no appeal to it.
—Emmanuel Lévinas, 1952Nothing worth knowing can be understood with the mind.
—Woody Allen, 1979Curses are like young chickens, they always come home to roost.
—Robert Southey, 1809Superstitions are habits rather than beliefs.
—Marlene Dietrich, 1962Man is always a wizard to man, and the social world is at first magical.
—Jean-Paul Sartre, 1939