Any serious attempt to do anything worthwhile is ritualistic.
—Derek Walcott, 1986Quotes
There is not so contemptible a plant or animal that does not confound the most enlarged understanding.
—John Locke, 1689Disbelief in magic can force a poor soul into believing in government and business.
—Tom Robbins, 1976To ensure the adoration of a theorem for any length of time, faith is not enough; a police force is needed as well.
—Albert Camus, 1951To 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 BCFaith is to believe what you do not see; the reward of this faith is to see what you believe.
—Saint Augustine, c. 400Nothing worth knowing can be understood with the mind.
—Woody Allen, 1979The believer in magic and miracles reflects on how to impose a law on nature—and, in brief, the religious cult is the outcome of this reflection.
—Friedrich Nietzsche, 1878The more enlightened our houses are, the more their walls ooze ghosts.
—Italo Calvino, 1967Everything 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, 1930Nothing is so easy to fake as the inner vision.
—Robertson Davies, 1985