The 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. 1400Quotes
Appearances often are deceiving.
—Aesop, c. 550 BCThe more enlightened our houses are, the more their walls ooze ghosts.
—Italo Calvino, 1967Disbelief in magic can force a poor soul into believing in government and business.
—Tom Robbins, 1976Watch 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, 1990The fact is certain because it is impossible.
—Tertullian, c. 200The mind is led on, step by step, to defeat its own logic.
—Dai Vernon, 1994I shall curse you with book and bell and candle.
—Thomas Malory, c. 1470Nothing is so easy as to deceive one’s self; for what we wish, that we readily believe.
—Demosthenes, 349 BCBid me discourse, I will enchant thine ear.
—William Shakespeare, 1592Nothing is so easy to fake as the inner vision.
—Robertson Davies, 1985There is not so contemptible a plant or animal that does not confound the most enlarged understanding.
—John Locke, 1689To 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