The Mughal’s nature is such that they demand miracles, but if a miracle were to be performed by some upright follower of our religion, they would say that it had been brought about by magic and sorcery. They would strike him down with spears or would stone him to death.
—Fr. Antonio Monserrate, 1590Quotes
Egypt was the mother of magicians.
—Clement of Alexandria, c. 200Everything that deceives does so by casting a spell.
—Plato, c. 375 BCThe most beautiful emotion we can experience is the mysterious. It is the fundamental emotion that stands at the cradle of all true art and science.
—Albert Einstein, 1930There are times when reality becomes too complex for oral communication. But legend gives it a form by which it pervades the whole world.
—Jean-Luc Godard, 1965Bid me discourse, I will enchant thine ear.
—William Shakespeare, 1592Nothing worth knowing can be understood with the mind.
—Woody Allen, 1979Many are the wonders of the world, and none so wonderful as man.
—Sophocles, c. 441 BCMen willingly believe what they wish.
—Julius Caesar, c. 50 BCI shall curse you with book and bell and candle.
—Thomas Malory, c. 1470The 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. 1400On no other stage are the scenes shifted with a swiftness so like magic as on the great stage of history when once the hour strikes.
—Edward Bellamy, 1888Nothing is so easy as to deceive one’s self; for what we wish, that we readily believe.
—Demosthenes, 349 BC