I am not a fan of the magical quick fix in any fiction, including fantasy, scifi and comic books. Unless Dr. Who is involved, and then only because we get to use the phrase 'Timey-wimey wibbliness' which, I'm sure you'll agree, there are not enough o...
Planning has no magic whereby you can elicit figs from thistles or choke-pears from vines. The rich, sappy, fruit-laden tree will bear sweetness, and strength and spiritual health: the dry, prickly, withered tree will teach hate, jealousy, suspicion,...
The whole idea of being mesmerized and not in control of your own actions is fascinating and a little spooky. I remember hearing about someone who'd gone to a magic act, and a person in the audience had become hypnotized by observing too closely what...
There's no limit to what you can dream. You the unexpected, you in magic, in fairy tales, and in possibilities. Then you grow older and that innocence is shattered and somewhere along the way the reality of gets in the way and you're hit by the reali...
My parents sent me from Venezuela to the Convent of Our Lady, a boarding school in Hastings, which was horrible - like Harry Potter without the magic. Sometimes we went into town, and if we were caught chewing gum in our uniform, members of the publi...
The leaves of the trees will stroke your cheeks, The wind will blow through your chest and cleanse your soul, The magical sounds of the earth, animals and the elements will hug your ears, The positive vibrations of the earth will fall asleep next to ...
Consciousness, when it's unburdened by the body, is something that's ecstatic; we use the mind to watch the mind, and that's the meta-nature of our consciousness; we know that we know that we know, and that's such a delicious feeling, but when it's u...
Stars wide of belt often cultivated a gentlemanly grandeur, a groomed refinement that filtered through their fingertips - the dainty fidgets of Hardy's plump digits, Orson Welles performing magic tricks with nimble dexterity, Jackie Gleason lofting a...
New fathers, political prisoners, traumatised presidential aides, resolute schoolboys, MEPs addressing unfriendly chambers - we all find that Shakespeare has magically anticipated our precise circumstances. How he was possible, I still don't understa...
My career is one of people involvement. I'm a promoter of the people, by the people, for the people. My magic lies, my people ties, this is what I want to do. I'm in it to win, I cant give in, I can't give up and I cant quit. Victory is mine. Working...
The fun little proofs that you can do with algebra - they are sort of like crowd pleasers in a way. Like, the .9 repeating equaling one. It doesn't take a lot of algebra to prove that, and it's really fun. It kind of wows people. It's like they're wa...
Now, I think that I should have known that he was magic all along. I did know it - but I should have guessed that it would be too much to ask to grow old with and see our children grow up together. So now, he is a legend when he would have preferred ...
[Alex encounters his old friends, who are now police] Alex: It's impossible! I can't believe it! Georgie: Evidence of the ol' glassies! Nothing up our sleeves, no magic little Alex! A job for two who are now of job age! The police!
[Harry, Ron and Hermione infiltrate the Ministry of Magic disguised as Ministry employees] Yaxley: Cattermole! It's still raining inside my office! Ron Weasley: [trying to disguise his voice] Uh... have you tried an umbrella?
Howl: The Witch of the Wastes is trying to find my castle. Old Sophie: Ah, I saw her henchmen at the harbor. Howl: I'm such a big coward, all I do is hide. All of this magic is to keep everybody away. I can't stand how scared I am.
Professor Jules Hilbert: Aren't you relieved to know you're not a Golem? Harold Crick: Yes. I am relieved to know that I am not a Golem. Professor Jules Hilbert: Good. [silence] Professor Jules Hilbert: [sighs] Do you have magical powers?
I think British men build up the idea of us French girls having some magic extra sex appeal so much, they lose their heads. I can't really understand the whole thing - but it makes me laugh. It's such a cliche to think all French girls are well dress...
I was very influenced by The Magic Mountain. It's a book that had a huge impact on me. I loved that as a shape for a novel: put a bunch of people in a beautiful place, give them all tuberculosis, make them all stay in a fur sleeping bag for several y...
Hope is magic. Hope is a gift. Hope is a raft we cling to in the midst of a storm. Hope by nature is an independent of logic. Hope is power outside of the facts. The human mind longs for something better. Hope is not rational. Yet who need rationalit...
Fairy tales were not my escape from reality as a child; rather, they were my reality -- for mine was a world in which good and evil were not abstract concepts, and like fairy-tale heroines, no magic would save me unless I had the wit and heart and co...
What do you think science is? There's nothing magical about science. It is simply a systematic way for carefully and thoroughly observing nature and using consistent logic to evaluate results. Which part of that exactly do you disagree with? Do you d...
