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
To blow and to swallow at the same time is not easy; I cannot at the same time be here and also there.
—Plautus, c. 200 BCMen willingly believe what they wish.
—Julius Caesar, c. 50 BCEverything that deceives does so by casting a spell.
—Plato, c. 375 BCThere 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, 1960Man is always a wizard to man, and the social world is at first magical.
—Jean-Paul Sartre, 1939Nothing is so easy to fake as the inner vision.
—Robertson Davies, 1985Any serious attempt to do anything worthwhile is ritualistic.
—Derek Walcott, 1986The fact is certain because it is impossible.
—Tertullian, c. 200Appearances often are deceiving.
—Aesop, c. 550 BCHave you ever, looking up, seen a cloud like to a centaur, a leopard, a wolf, or a bull?
—Aristophanes, 423 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, 1930Everything is a miracle. It is a miracle that one does not dissolve in one’s bath like a lump of sugar.
—Pablo Picasso, 1929