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Quotes

Appearances often are deceiving.

—Aesop, c. 550 BC

Everything that deceives does so by casting a spell.

—Plato, c. 375 BC

All things are filled full of signs, and it is a wise man who can learn about one thing from another.

—Plotinus, c. 255

To 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

Nothing is so easy as to deceive one’s self; for what we wish, that we readily believe.

—Demosthenes, 349 BC

Many are the wonders of the world, and none so wonderful as man.

—Sophocles, c. 441 BC

Bid me discourse, I will enchant thine ear.

—William Shakespeare, 1592

The fact is certain because it is impossible.

—Tertullian, c. 200

The subconscious is ceaselessly murmuring, and it is by listening to these murmurs that one hears the truth.

—Gaston Bachelard, 1960

Disbelief in magic can force a poor soul into believing in government and business.

—Tom Robbins, 1976

Once something becomes discernible, or understandable, we no longer need to repeat it. We can destroy it.

—Robert Wilson, 1991

Curses are like young chickens, they always come home to roost.

—Robert Southey, 1809

On 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