I shall curse you with book and bell and candle.
—Thomas Malory, c. 1470Quotes
Curses are like young chickens, they always come home to roost.
—Robert Southey, 1809Watch 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. 200All things are filled full of signs, and it is a wise man who can learn about one thing from another.
—Plotinus, c. 255God is alive. Magic is afoot.
—Leonard Cohen, 1966To ensure the adoration of a theorem for any length of time, faith is not enough; a police force is needed as well.
—Albert Camus, 1951The subconscious is ceaselessly murmuring, and it is by listening to these murmurs that one hears the truth.
—Gaston Bachelard, 1960Disbelief in magic can force a poor soul into believing in government and business.
—Tom Robbins, 1976Any serious attempt to do anything worthwhile is ritualistic.
—Derek Walcott, 1986There is not so contemptible a plant or animal that does not confound the most enlarged understanding.
—John Locke, 1689Everything that deceives does so by casting a spell.
—Plato, c. 375 BCOne thing alone not even God can do: to make undone whatever has been done.
—Aristotle, c. 350 BC