Egypt was the mother of magicians.

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

A miracle entails a degree of irrationality—not because it shocks reason, but because it makes no appeal to it.

To blow and to swallow at the same time is not easy; I cannot at the same time be here and also there.

Appearances often are deceiving.

Everything that deceives does so by casting a spell.

The 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.

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

The more enlightened our houses are, the more their walls ooze ghosts.

Nothing worth knowing can be understood with the mind.

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

Superstitions are habits rather than beliefs.

God is alive. Magic is afoot.