“To write does not mean to convert the real into words but to make the power of the word real.”

“The dictionary is an ossuary of empty words.”

“Forms disappear, words remain, to signify the impossible.”

“It is not by believing but by doubting that one can attain to the truth, which is ever changing form and condition.”

“Letters couldn't care less whether what is written with them is true or false.”

“The great principle of Justice: prevent crime rather than punish it. All that is needed to execute a guilty man is a firing squad or a hangman. To prevent there being guilty men requires great astuteness.”

“I'm writing a book on magic”, I explain, and I'm asked, “Real magic?” By real magic people mean miracles, thaumaturgical acts, and supernatural powers. “No”, I answer: “Conjuring tricks, not real magic”. Real magic, in other words, refers to the magic that is not real, while the magic that is real, that can actually be done, is not real magic.”