Quotes from book
The Master Key

The Master Key

The Master Key: An Electrical Fairy Tale, Founded Upon the Mysteries of Electricity and the Optimism of Its Devotees is a 1901 novel by L. Frank Baum, author of The Wonderful Wizard of Oz. It was illustrated by F. Y. Cory.


L. Frank Baum photo

“Familiarity with any great thing removes our awe of it.”

The Master Key (1901)
Context: Familiarity with any great thing removes our awe of it. The great general is only terrible to the enemy; the great poet is frequently scolded by his wife; the children of the great statesman clamber about his knees with perfect trust and impunity; the great actor who is called before the curtain by admiring audiences is often waylaid at the stage door by his creditors.

L. Frank Baum photo

“If you will take the trouble to consult your dictionary, you will find that demons may be either good or bad, like any other class of beings.”

The Master Key (1901)
Context: If you will take the trouble to consult your dictionary, you will find that demons may be either good or bad, like any other class of beings. Originally all demons were good, yet of late years people have come to consider all demons evil. I do not know why. Should you read Hesiod you will find he says:
'Soon was a world of holy demons made,
Aerial spirits, by great Jove designed
To be on earth the guardians of mankind.' "
"But Jove was himself a myth," objected Rob, who had been studying mythology.
The Demon shrugged his shoulders.
"Then take the words of Mr. Shakespeare, to whom you all defer," he replied. "Do you not remember that he says:
'Thy demon (that's thy spirit which keeps thee) is
Noble, courageous, high, unmatchable.' "
"Oh, if Shakespeare says it, that's all right,' answered the boy."

Similar authors

L. Frank Baum photo
L. Frank Baum 108
Children's writer, editor, journalist, screenwriter 1856–1919
George Eliot photo
George Eliot 300
English novelist, journalist and translator
Ambrose Bierce photo
Ambrose Bierce 204
American editorialist, journalist, short story writer, fabu…
Jan Neruda photo
Jan Neruda 7
Czech poet, theater reviewer, publicist and writer
Alphonse Karr photo
Alphonse Karr 3
French critic, journalist, and novelist
Henryk Sienkiewicz photo
Henryk Sienkiewicz 38
Polish journalist, Nobel Prize-winning novelist, and philan…
Charles Dickens photo
Charles Dickens 116
English writer and social critic and a Journalist
Edgar Allan Poe photo
Edgar Allan Poe 126
American author, poet, editor and literary critic
Hans Christian Andersen photo
Hans Christian Andersen 41
Danish author, fairy tale writer, and poet
Walt Whitman photo
Walt Whitman 181
American poet, essayist and journalist