“My talismans are not obviously useless.”

“Conversation! Supple sentences, with first and second meanings and overtones beyond, outrageous challenges with cleverly planned slip-points, rebuttals of elegant brevity; deceptions and guiles, patient explanations of the obvious, fleeting allusions to the unthinkable. As a preliminary, the conversationalist must gauge the mood, the intelligence and the verbal facility of the company. To this end, a few words of pedantic exposition often prove invaluable.”

“I am a dull fellow...my person reeks, my conversation consists of insipid platitudes.”

“Mischief moves somewhere near and I must blast it with my magic.”

“Only the fact of my broken limbs prevents me from leaping at your throat.”

“Notice this rent in my garment; I am at a loss to explain its presence! I am even more puzzled by the existence of the universe.”

“Law cannot reach where enforcement will not follow. —Popular aphorism.”