“As long as you can Houdini your way out of the Sisyphean constraints then originality happens.”

Representation and recognition of the spatial organization of three-dimensional shapes, 1978

"Laughing With"
Far (2009)
Context: No one laughs at God when the cops knock on their door
And they say "We've got some bad news, sir."

No one's laughing at God when there's a famine, fire or flood But God can be funny
At a cocktail party when listening to a good God-themed joke
Or when the crazies say He hates us
And they get so red in the head you think they're 'bout to choke God can be funny
When told he'll give you money if you just pray the right way
And when presented like a genie who does magic like Houdini
Or grants wishes like Jiminy Cricket and Santa Claus
God can be so hilarious...

Essay on Creativity in Science and Engineering

Source: Billy Lynn's Long Halftime Walk

Overqualified

Essay, "Original detail". p.45
Writing Down the Bones (1986)

There are no records of Roosevelt having made such a statement, and this is most likely a misquotation of the widely reported comment he made in a speech at the Citadel (23 October 1935):
: Yes, we are on our way back — not just by pure chance, my friends, not just by a turn of the wheel, of the cycle. We are coming back more soundly than ever before because we are planning it that way. Don't let anybody tell you differently.
Misattributed

Source: Wyrd Sisters