“Indeed, what is magic but impossible science?”
—
Michael Swanwick
,
book
Stations of the Tide
Source: Stations of the Tide (1991), Chapter 8, “Conversations in the Puzzle Palace” (p. 130)
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Michael Swanwick 96
American science fiction author 1950Related quotes
Eliphas Levi
(1810–1875) French writer
Miscellaneous Quotes On the Subjects of Magic and Magicians
Source: Dogme et Rituel de la Haute Magi Part I: The Doctrine of Transcendental Magic By Eliphas Levi (Alphonse Louis Constant), Translated by A. E. Waite, England, Rider & Company, England, 1896, Introduction p. 11
Thomas Szasz
(1920–2012) Hungarian psychiatrist
"Science and Scientism", p. 115.
The Second Sin (1973)
“The Science you don't know looks like magic.”
Kona, in Ch. 30
Fluke, or, I Know Why the Winged Whale Sings (2003)
“Magic's just science that we don't understand yet.”
Arthur C. Clarke
(1917–2008) British science fiction writer, science writer, inventor, undersea explorer, and television series host
“Magic is the science and the art of causing change to occur in conformity with will.”
Peter J. Carroll
(1953) British occultist
Source: Liber Null & Psychonaut (1987), p. 15; this is a slight paraphrase of the definition of Aleister Crowley in Magick in Theory and Practice: Magick is the Science and Art of causing Change to occur in conformity with Will.
“Magic words and incantations are as fatal to our science as they are to any other.”
Benjamin N. Cardozo
(1870–1938) United States federal judge
Pages 66 http://books.google.com/books?id=LGLuAAAAMAAJ&q=%22We+seek+to+find+peace+of+mind+in+the+word+the%22&pg=PA66#v=onepage – 67 http://books.google.com/books?id=LGLuAAAAMAAJ&q=%22formula+the+ritual+The+hope+is+an+illusion%22&pg=PA67#v=onepage
Other writings, The Growth of the Law (1924)
Context: Magic words and incantations are as fatal to our science as they are to any other. Methods, when classified and separated, acquire their true bearing and perspective as a means to an end, not as ends in themselves. We seek to find peace of mind in the word, the formula, the ritual. The hope is an illusion.
Duke University, 01/03/2012 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rYcOoqxuroI&t=54m51s
The Magic Of Reality (2012)
Source: The Magic of Reality: How We Know What's Really True
Context: Don’t ever be lazy enough, defeatist enough, cowardly enough to say “I don't understand it so it must be a miracle - it must be supernatural - God did it”. Say instead, that it’s a puzzle, it’s strange, it’s a challenge that we should rise to. Whether we rise to the challenge by questioning the truth of the observation, or by expanding our science in new and exciting directions - the proper and brave response to any such challenge is to tackle it head-on. And until we've found a proper answer to the mystery, it's perfectly ok simply to say “this is something we don't yet understand - but we're working on it”. It's the only honest thing to do. Miracles, magic and myths, they can be fun. Everybody likes a good story. Myths are fun, as long as you don't confuse them with the truth. The real truth has a magic of its own. The truth is more magical, in the best and most exciting sense of the word, than any myth or made-up mystery or miracle. Science has its own magic - the magic of reality.