I shall curse you with book and bell and candle.
—Thomas Malory, c. 1470Quotes
Man is always a wizard to man, and the social world is at first magical.
—Jean-Paul Sartre, 1939All things are filled full of signs, and it is a wise man who can learn about one thing from another.
—Plotinus, c. 255Watch 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, 1990Men willingly believe what they wish.
—Julius Caesar, c. 50 BCNothing from nothing ever yet was born.
—Lucretius, c. 58 BCThe fact is certain because it is impossible.
—Tertullian, c. 200Nothing worth knowing can be understood with the mind.
—Woody Allen, 1979In the past, men created witches; now they create mental patients.
—Thomas Szasz, 1970Any serious attempt to do anything worthwhile is ritualistic.
—Derek Walcott, 1986There 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, 1965Curses are like young chickens, they always come home to roost.
—Robert Southey, 1809On 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, 1888