“We ought to be very cautious in the prosecution of magic and heresy. The attempt to put down these two crimes may be extremely perilous to liberty, and may be the origin of a number of petty acts of tyranny if the legislator be not on his guard; for as such an accusation does not bear directly on the overt acts of a citizen, but refers to the idea we entertain of his character.” IfsMayDoeTwoIdeasCharacterLawReligionIndividualJusticeNumbersLibertyMagicCrimeBearsOughtCitizensConscienceTyrannyPersecutionPettyCautiousHeresyLegislatorsAccusationIndividual RightsProsecution Author:Baron de Montesquieu
“Scan your subject for things that are clearly impossible. After all, paint isn't magic! If you see that certain elements in the subject are beyond the limits of your pigments, try to form an idea beforehand of how you are going to handle those areas when you get to them.” IfsTryingIdeasFormCertainImpossibleMagicSubjectsLimitsElementsAreasPaintHandlePigment Author:Richard Schmid
“How hard is it to build an intelligent machine? I don't think it's so hard, but that's my opinion, and I've written two books on how I think one should do it. The basic idea I promote is that you mustn't look for a magic bullet. You mustn't look for one wonderful way to solve all problems. Instead you want to look for 20 or 30 ways to solve different kinds of problems. And to build some kind of higher administrative device that figures out what kind of problem you have and what method to use.” ThinkingWayWantShouldLooksKindTwoBookIdeasDifferentHardUseProblemOpinionWonderfulWrittenMagicFiguresHigherMachinesIntelligentMethodSolveDevicesArtificial IntelligenceDifferent KindsBulletsAdministrativeIntelligent Machines Author:Marvin Minsky
“The quality of light by which we scrutinize our lives has direct bearing upon the product which we live, and upon the changes which we hope to bring about through those lives. It is within this light that we form those ideas by which we pursue our magic and make it realized. This is poetry as illumination, for it is through poetry that we give name to those ideas which are, until the poem, nameless and formless-about to be birthed, but already felt.” GivingIdeasLightFormNamesFeltQualityOur LivesMagicProductsDirectPursueIlluminationNamelessScrutinize Book:Sister Outsider: Essays and Speeches Source: Sister Outsider: Essays and Speeches
“I like cars. I like travel. I like the idea of people breaking down and I'm the only one who can help them get on the road again. It would be like being a magician. Just open up the hood and cast your magic spell.” PeopleIdeasHelpingWould BeMagicCarDown AndCastsSpellsBreaking DownMagicianHood Book:Curse of the Starving Class: A Play in Three Acts Source: Curse of the Starving Class: A Play in Three Acts
“The artist has some internal experience that produces a poem, a painting, a piece of music. Spectators submit themselves to the work, which generates an inner experience for them. But historically it's a very new, not to mention vulgar, idea that the spectator's experience should be identical to, or even have anything to do with, the artist's. That idea comes from an over-industrialized society which has learned to distrust magic.” ShouldArtIdeasArtistPiecesMagicProducePaintingInternalsSubmitVulgarDistrustSpectatorsIdentical Author:Samuel R. Delany
“A piece of literature can be many things but first of all it must capture its audience. You need to seduce people, entice them into a world of beauty and horror, light and shadow, of passion, of romance, of mystery. That's the magic of it. Beyond that, of course, you can open a dialogue about the ideas which interest you, but first of all you absolutely must get inside people's minds.” PeopleWorldNeedsMindFirstsIdeasLightRomancePassionCoursesLiteratureInterestAudiencePiecesMagicMysteryHorrorShadowDialogueCaptureSeducingLight And Shadow Author:Carlos Ruiz Zafon
“Hemingway, damn his soul, makes everything he writes terrifically exciting (and incidentally makes all us second-raters seem positively adolescent) by the seemingly simple expedient of the iceberg principle - three-fourths of the substance under the surface. He comes closer that way to retaining the magic of the original, unexpressed idea or emotion, which is always more stirring than any words. But just try and do it!” WayWritingTryingIdeasSoulSeemsThreeSimpleEmotionPrinciplesMagicExcitingOriginalsSurfaceSubstanceDamnPositivelyStirringIcebergRetaining Author:Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings
“Poetry interprets in two ways: it interprets by expressing, with magical felicity, the physiognomy and movements of the outward world; and it interprets by expressing, with inspired conviction, the ideas and laws of the inward world of man's moral and spiritual nature. In other words, poetry is interpretative both by having natural magic in it, and by having moral profundity.” MenWorldWayTwoIdeasSpiritualLawPoetryNaturalMoralMagicMovementInspiredConvictionPoetry IsInwardTwo WaysFelicityProfunditySpiritual NaturePhysiognomy Book:Essays in Criticism Source: Essays in Criticism
“There's also the tradition of voodoo, the Haitian magic arts, in New Orleans. And because New Orleans is below sea level, when they bury people in New Orleans, it's mostly above ground. So you have this idea that the spirits are more accessible and can access you more easily because they're not even buried.” PeopleArtIdeasSpiritLevelsMagicSeaTraditionAccessBuriedNew OrleansVoodooHaitian Author:Sam Trammell
“Every human being has gone through a tragedy of sorts. And the idea is that you have two paths you can take, you can find that alchemy that turns lead into gold, find that magic where you can see the loss as an entry point for learning and grow from it and become wiser and stronger.” HumansTwoIdeasTurnsGrowsHuman BeingsLossGonePathMagicGoldTragedyStrongerWiserAlchemyEntryTwo Paths Author:Jillian Michaels
“Poetry is that magic which consists in awakening sensations with the help of a combination of sounds ... that sorcery by which ideas are necessarily communicated to us, in a definite way, by words which nevertheless do not express them.” WayArtIdeasHelpingPoetrySoundMagicAwakeningCombinationPoetry IsSensationsNeverthelessDefiniteSorcery Author:John Banville
“To see itself through, music must have idea or magic. ... Music with neither dies young though rich.” IdeasYoungDiesRichMagicDie Young Author:Ned Rorem
“If writing is thinking and discovery and selection and order and meaning, it is also awe and reverence and mystery and magic....Authors arrive at text and subtext in thousands of ways, learning each time they begin anew how to recognize a valuable idea and how to reader the texture that accompanies, reveals or displays it to its best advantage.” IfsThinkingWayWritingIdeasOrderMagicMysteryReaderDiscoveryAdvantageValuableAweReverenceDisplaySelectionTextureAccompanySubtext Author:Toni Morrison
“A really sublime moment is that when the last ray of light breaks in upon the soul, and marshals into a single group all the scattered disconnected truths there. There is such a vast difference between the moment which follows, and the moment which precedes this one, between what we were before, and what we are after, that the word grace has been invented to convey the idea of this magic stroke, of this light from on high.” Has BeensIdeasSoulMomentsLightLastsDifferencesBreakGraceMagicGroupsRaysSublimeStrokesDisconnectedRays Of Light Author:Jean-Baptiste Henri Lacordaire
“I was terrified by this idea that I would lose the ability to enjoy and appreciate the sunset without having my camera on me, without tweeting it to my friends. It felt like technology should enable magic, not kill it.” ShouldIdeasFeltEnjoyLosesAbilityTechnologyMagicMy FriendsAppreciateCamerasSunsetTerrified Author:Shilo Shiv Suleman
“The idea that by eating the meat of an animal, the animal powers or faculties could be conveyed to oneself is nonsense and originates in a mental ignorance of the perfect and genuine primitive laws.” IdeasLawPerfectAnimalMagicIgnoranceEatingOneselfGenuineMeatNonsenseMysticismFacultyPrimitive Author:Franz Bardon
“Now let us regard the idea of God from the magic standpoint, according to the four elements, the so-called tetragrammaton, the unspeakable, the supreme: the fiery principle involves the almightiness and the omnipotence, the airy principle owns the wisdom, purity and clarity, from which aspect proceeds the universal lawfulness. Love and eternal life are attributed to the watery principle, and omnipresence, immortality and consequently eternity belong to the earth principle. These four aspects together represent the supreme Godhead.” IdeasEarthTogetherPrinciplesFourMagicElementsEternalAspectUniversalEternityRegardSupremeClarityImmortalityPurityMysticismEternal LifeStandpointFieryUnspeakableOmnipotenceAiryFour ElementsLawfulness Author:Franz Bardon
“I don't want to convince you that mathematics is useful. It is, but utility is not the only criterion for value to humanity. Above all, I want to convince you that mathematics is beautiful, surprising, enjoyable, and interesting. In fact, mathematics is the closest that we humans get to true magic. How else to describe the patterns in our heads that - by some mysterious agency - capture patterns of the universe around us? Mathematics connects ideas that otherwise seem totally unrelated, revealing deep similarities that subsequently show up in nature.” WantHumansIdeasFactsShowsSeemsBeautifulValuesHumanityUniverseInterestingEducationMagicMathematicsPatternsMathMysteriousAgencyConvinceCaptureSurprisingClosestRevealingEnjoyableCriteriaUtilitySimilarity Author:Ian Stewart
“When you sit down and write a song, you kind of have the idea for the song, and you sit there at the piano and you kinda just write it. And then of course later there's some dinking around with it and changing some stuff. But there's this thing that happens when the song first comes out, that sort of magic when it first comes out of the ether, and you can't even really explain where it comes from. That happens so much with music, and people understand that with music. But I really think that a lot of movie and TV should be the same way.” PeopleThinkingWayShouldWritingFirstsKindIdeasHappensSongCoursesStuffMagicTvsDown AndPiano Author:Trey Parker
“Some things cannot be explained. This is part of the magic of life. There cannot be a word or an idea or a definition attached to everything.” IdeasMagicDefinitionsMagic Of Life Author:Jim James
“Yesterday I was thinking about the whole idea of genius and creative people, and the notion that if you create some magical art, somehow that exempts you from having to pay attention to the small things.” PeopleIfsThinkingArtIdeasWholePayAttentionCreativeMagicGeniusNotionYesterdayPay AttentionSmall ThingsCreative People Author:Bell Hooks
“I love the idea that magic and witchcraft and battles between supernatural creatures could be raging all around us but just out of our sight.” IdeasMagicBattleCreaturesSightRageWitchcraftSatanic Author:Anthony Horowitz
“All change requires effort and sacrifice. Sometimes action plans fail because they are based on the idea that there is a 'magic bullet' which on its own can solve our problems.This is not true. Complex human problems typically require complex solutions with many different components.” HumansIdeasDifferentSometimesProblemActionEffortPlansFailingMagicSacrificeSolutionsComplexesSolveBulletsComponentsHuman Problems Author:Alan Carr
“You wind up creating from silence, like painting a picture on a blank canvas that could bring tears to somebody's eyes. As songwriters, our blank canvas is silence. Then we write a song from an idea that can change somebody's life. Songwriting is the closest thing to magic that we could ever experience. That's why I love songwriting.” WritingIdeasEyeSongSilenceMagicTearsPaintingWindCreatingSongwritingClosestBlankSongwritersCanvasSinger SongwritersBlank CanvasPainting A Picture Author:Rodney Atkins
“Before he died, Harry said that his wife knew everything about every trick that he did, and that she knew how they all worked. It was interesting to play with that idea, and to find the places where she really was afraid for his safety and where she was playing along. I had to find that line between what's a performance and what's real, and that's so much of what magic is, as well. It was really, really fun. They were really partners, in every sense of the word.” WellsSaidIdeasRealPlayFunLinesInterestingWifeMagicPerformancesDiedSafetyPartnersTricks Author:Kristen Connolly
“It's the unlikely juxtaposition of creativity and logic which causes the wooliness and confusion around the term 'innovation'. Everybody wants to be innovative; many companies and ideas are proclaimed to be innovative and no one doubts that innovation is a money spinner. And, thus, we are all looking for the magic formula. Well, here you go: Creativity + Iterative Development = Innovation.” WantWellsIdeasCausesTermCompanyCreativityDoubtMagicDevelopmentLogicInnovationConfusionFormulasUnlikelyInnovativeJuxtapositionSpinner Author:James Dyson
“I think that a true economics thinker or a Marxist thinker would make nonsense of my argument, although I have given massive seminars and no one has demolished it so far. I did think that this idea from an artisanal and trading perception of the auratic quality of goods when they are given character and inscription, made the stories of phantasmic wealth read more powerfully in the 18th and 19th centuries than the stories of Cinderella's wealth, because they are conjured out of nothing by these magic means.” ThinkingMeanMadeIdeasCharacterStoriesGivenWealthQualityMagicCenturyPerceptionEconomicsArgumentNonsenseMassiveGoodsThinkerTrading19th CenturyMarxistInscriptionsSeminars Author:Marina Warner
“The idea of being part of this tapestry of humanity is a far more enlightening idea for me than believing you are going to this different place when you die. The magic of reality is far more potent.” BelieveIdeasDifferentRealityHumanityDiesMagicEnlighteningDifferent PlaceTapestry Author:Matthew Healy
“I believe there is magic everywhere. From the way art takes form from an idea and can be shared, to the way we love, to the way the world creates what we need to survive and that through all that, that we are part of a universe that is bigger than we could imagine. That's magical.” WorldWayNeedsBelieveArtIdeasFormUniverseI BelieveImagineMagicBiggerImagine That Author:Janine and The Mixtape
“Everyone was talking about having airplanes disappear. And I said, "Wait, wait, wait. That's what you like? I'd tell you a story about something like my girlfriend leaving me, and the magic was really hard. The airplane thing was comparatively easy, and people liked that thing?" I realized at that moment, the power of the simple idea.” PeopleSaidIdeasHardMomentsStoriesEasyWaitingSimpleTalkingMagicLeavingDisappearI RealizedGirlfriendThat MomentAirplaneLeaving MeMy GirlfriendSimple Ideas Author:David Copperfield
“People agree to say that it is rationality and science which have eliminated what is called magic and religion. But ultimately, the ironic outcome of this techno-scientific development is a renewed need for the idea of God.” PeopleNeedsIdeasMagicDevelopmentAgreeOutcomesIronicRationalityTechno Author:Paul Virilio
“How can you sustain life? [Dan] Fogelman is magic, and I think the other scripts of his that I've read for this show specifically are as beautiful as the pilot script [of This Is Us]. And he said it in a meeting [regarding the stillbirth of a child], "You can't kill a baby every week." But I think the idea that you can have these impactful moments that are as heightened as the loss of a child - it's life.” ThinkingChildrenSaidIdeasMomentsShowsBeautifulLossMagicWeekBabyMeetingsScriptsPilotsLoss Of A ChildStillbirth Author:Milo Ventimiglia
“Ideas matter. Legislative proposals matter. Slick campaigns and dazzling speeches can work for a while, but the magic always wears off.” IdeasMatterMagicSpeechCampaignsProposalDazzlingSlick Author:Charles Krauthammer
“Ideas aren't magical; the only tricky part is holding on to one long enough to get it written down.” LongIdeasEnoughWrittenMagicHolding OnTricky Author:Lynn Abbey
“Magic's an art where you use slight of hand or illusion to create wonder. And I was just intrigued with that idea.” ArtIdeasUseHandsWonderMagicIllusionIntrigued Author:David Blaine
“The tipping point is that magic moment when an idea, trend, or social behavior crosses a threshold, tips, and spreads like wildfire.” IdeasMomentsSuccessSocialMagicBehaviorCrossesSpreadTrendsThresholdTippingWildfiresTipping PointSocial BehaviorMagic Moments Author:Malcolm Gladwell
“To me, all creativity is magic. Ideas start out in the empty void of your head - and they end up as a material thing, like a book you can hold in your hand. That is the magical process. It's an alchemical thing. Yes, we do get the gold out of it but that's not the most important thing. It's the work itself.” WritingArtImportantBookIdeasEndsHandsProcessCreativityMagicMaterialsEmptyGoldImportant ThingsVoidMaterial Things Author:Alan Moore
“I believe in the magic of books. I believe that during certain periods in our lives we are drawn to particular books--whether it's strolling down the aisles of a bookshop with no idea whatsoever of what it is that we want to read and suddenly finding the most perfect, most wonderfully suitable book staring us right in the face. Unblinking. Or a chance meeting with a stranger or friend who recommends a book we would never ordinarily reach for. Books have the ability to find their own way into our lives.” WayWantBelieveBookIdeasFacesCertainI BelieveChanceAbilityPerfectOur LivesMagicParticularPeriodsFindingsMeetingsI Believe InStrangerNo IdeaStaringSuitableStrollingAisleBookshopsChance Meeting Author:Cecelia Ahern
“They're afraid of change, and we must change. They're afraid of the young, and we are the young. They're afraid of music, and music is our life. They're afraid of books, and knowledge, and ideas. They're most afraid of our magic.” LifeBookIdeasYoungOur LivesMagicMusic IsAfraid Of Change Author:James Patterson
“Orion brightened. "I have an idea." "Yes?" said Foaly, daring to hope that a spark of Artemis remained. "Why don't we look for some magic stones that can grant wishes? Or, if that doesn't work, you could search my naked body for some mysterious birthmark that means I am actually the prince of somewhere or other.” IfsLooksMeanSaidIdeasBodyWishMagicStonesNakedMysteriousGrantsSparksDaringArtemisFowlArtemis FowlOrionBirthmarks Author:Eoin Colfer