One thing alone not even God can do: to make undone whatever has been done.
—Aristotle, c. 350 BCQuotes
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. 1400Once something becomes discernible, or understandable, we no longer need to repeat it. We can destroy it.
—Robert Wilson, 1991Appearances often are deceiving.
—Aesop, c. 550 BCMen willingly believe what they wish.
—Julius Caesar, c. 50 BCEverything that deceives does so by casting a spell.
—Plato, c. 375 BCNothing is so easy as to deceive one’s self; for what we wish, that we readily believe.
—Demosthenes, 349 BCThe 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, 1590Everything is a miracle. It is a miracle that one does not dissolve in one’s bath like a lump of sugar.
—Pablo Picasso, 1929There is nothing that man fears more than the touch of the unknown. He wants to see what is reaching toward him and to be able to recognize or at least classify it. Man always tends to avoid physical contact with anything strange.
—Elias Canetti, 1960There 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, 1965Egypt was the mother of magicians.
—Clement of Alexandria, c. 200Many are the wonders of the world, and none so wonderful as man.
—Sophocles, c. 441 BC