In the past, men created witches; now they create mental patients.
—Thomas Szasz, 1970Quotes
Nothing is so easy as to deceive one’s self; for what we wish, that we readily believe.
—Demosthenes, 349 BCSuperstitions are habits rather than beliefs.
—Marlene Dietrich, 1962God is alive. Magic is afoot.
—Leonard Cohen, 1966The fear of the Lord is true wisdom, and he who hath it not can in no way penetrate the true secrets of magic.
—Abraham the Jew, c. 1400Watch with glittering eyes the whole world around you, because the greatest secrets are always hidden in the most unlikely places. Those who don’t believe in magic will never find it.
—Roald Dahl, 1990Man is always a wizard to man, and the social world is at first magical.
—Jean-Paul Sartre, 1939To ensure the adoration of a theorem for any length of time, faith is not enough; a police force is needed as well.
—Albert Camus, 1951All things are filled full of signs, and it is a wise man who can learn about one thing from another.
—Plotinus, c. 255One thing alone not even God can do: to make undone whatever has been done.
—Aristotle, c. 350 BCThe fact is certain because it is impossible.
—Tertullian, c. 200Nothing from nothing ever yet was born.
—Lucretius, c. 58 BCDisbelief in magic can force a poor soul into believing in government and business.
—Tom Robbins, 1976