“But magic can't operate without a magician, and being a magician can beat a man to his knees.”

“Can a magician kill a man by magic?” Lord Wellington asked Strange.
Strange frowned. He seemed to dislike the question. “I suppose a magician might,” he admitted, “but a gentleman never could.”

“In magic, anyone with a shop-bought trick deck is a magician, and if people aren’t fooled they usually pretend to be, and they are understandably likely to mistake being fooled as a sign of being in the presence of an excellent magician.”

“I know magicians and I know magic and I say this: all magicians lie and this one more than most.”

“My Lord, I am not a superstitious man,” Master Sean said. “Being a sorcerer leaves little room for superstition. A superstitious magician is unable to manipulate symbols properly, and symbolism is a large part of magic.”

“I feel that most illusionists, magicians and prestidigitators have lost their sense of magic. A movie, a painting, a sunset or a piece of music are sometimes more magical than many 'magic tricks'. Most of our contemporary magicians arouse pity or compassion and don't allow the spectators to dream about other worlds. Magic is not the trick you're doing. Magic is a certain mood, an atmosphere; the absolute beauty of the instant when Man meets the sacred; where the walls of our reality open and, beyond them, infinity appears. The magicians are guides who may, at their will, travel from one universe to another, bringing you with them.”

“The primordial forms of all sciences, taken back beyond the rise of writing, lie ultimately in the magic of prehistory. Just as modern man wants to indicate what consequences his actions will have, so also a man who grows up in the magical way of life seeks to find a ground for everything and to find consequences of his action. Magic as a more or less clearly formulated system of tenets shot through with emotional elements, can become independent only when magicians, acting as specialists, proclaim the consequences of certain customs, either esoterically,. e. g. at certain rituals, or exoterically as popular education. The magicians tell what cases are to count as 'equal', and when certain measures shall be used”

“Why do we think love is a magician? Because the whole power of magic consists in love. The work of magic is the attraction of one thing by another because of a certain affinity of nature.”

“Magicians do not, as a rule, presume that their audiences are intelligent and sensitive enough to want the magic to be challenging and cathartic. This is not a healthy starting point, for it stultifies magic and leaves it too close to children’s entertainment.”

“If you look up "charming" in the dictionary, you'll see that it not only has references to strong attraction, but to spells and magic. Then again, what are liars if not great magicians?”