quotations about magic
Real magic can never be made by offering someone else's liver. You must tear out your own, and not expect to get it back.
PETER S. BEAGLE
The Last Unicorn
Formerly, when religion was strong and science weak, men mistook magic for medicine; now, when science is strong and religion weak, men mistake medicine for magic.
THOMAS SZASZ
The Second Sin
Books are a uniquely portable magic.
STEPHEN KING
On Writing
A police officer in Florida could lose her job after she tried to cast a spell on her boss. Yeah, when asked for comment, her boss was like, "Ribbit."
JIMMY FALLON
Late Night with Jimmy Fallon, December 2, 2011
It's still magic even if you know how it's done.
TERRY PRATCHETT
A Hat Full of Sky
I confess that Magic teacheth many superfluous things, and curious prodigies for ostentation; leave them as empty things, yet be not ignorant of their causes. But those things which are for the profit of men -- for the turning away of evil events, for the destroying of sorceries, for the curing of diseases, for the exterminating of phantasms, for the preserving of life, honor, or fortune -- may be done without offense to God or injury to religion, because they are, as profitable, so necessary.
HEINRICH CORNELIUS AGRIPPA
Three Books of Occult Philosophy or Magic
One man's "magic" is another man's engineering.
ROBERT A. HEINLEIN
The Notebooks of Lazarus Long
Magic is first and foremost a technology, a primeval tool that humans stumbled upon eons ago for accessing an invisible realm that they sensed held the key to their well-being. Magic gave people an avenue to attain what their hearts desired--protection, divination, healing, luck, vengeance and, most of all, a sense of empowerment. It's a measure of comfort in a cold, dark world.
HILLARY WATERMAN
"Herbs & Verbs: How to do Witchcraft for Real", JSTOR, October 25, 2017
Real magic is not about gaining power over others: it is about gaining power over yourself.
ROSEMARY GUILEY
The Encyclopedia of Magic and Alchemy
An eclipse of the sun denotes that it will be dark while it lasts, that astrologers tell many lies, and that fools believe in magic.
G. P. MORRIS
attributed, Day's Collacon
Sandra's seen a leprechaun,
Eddie touched a troll,
Laurie danced with witches once,
Charlie found some goblins gold.
Donald heard a mermaid sing,
Susy spied an elf,
But all the magic I have known
I've had to make myself.
SHEL SILVERSTEIN
"Magic"
Those who don't believe in magic will never find it.
ROALD DAHL
The Missing Golden Ticket and Other Splendiferous Secrets
Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic.
ARTHUR C. CLARKE
Profiles of the Future
You can always find chains of coincidence to disprove magic. That's because it doesn't happen the way it does in books. It makes those chains of coincidence. That's what it is. It's like if you snapped your fingers and produced a rose but it was because someone on an aeroplane dropped a rose at just the right time for it to land in your hand. There was a real person and a real aeroplane and a real rose, but that doesn't mean the reason you have the rose in your hand isn't because you did the magic.
JO WALTON
Among Others
Scientists have calculated that the chances of something so patently absurd actually existing are millions to one. But magicians have calculated that million-to-one chances crop up nine times out of ten.
TERRY PRATCHETT
Mort
The universe is full of magical things patiently waiting for our wits to grow sharper.
EDEN PHILLPOTTS
A Shadow Passes
I would not want to live in a world without dragons, as I would not want to live in a world without magic, for that is a world without mystery, and that is a world without faith.
R. A. SALVATORE
Streams of Silver
If you choose magic you will never be able to return to the life you once lived. Your world may be more ... exciting ... but it will also be more dangerous. Less reliable. And once you begin to walk the path of magic, you can never step off of it.
NEIL GAIMAN
The Books of Magic: The Road to Nowhere
Disbelief in magic can force a poor soul into believing in government and business.
TOM ROBBINS
Even Cowgirls Get the Blues
A little magic can take you a long way.
ROALD DAHL
James and the Giant Peach