Nothing must be left to chance in a magical performance. Everything conducive to enhancing the mystery of the illusions must be arranged with painstaking care and thought.

The mere knowledge of secrets will not help the amateur conjurer very far on the road to success.

All done by kindness.

I came from a disadvantaged home. They were Republicans.

The framing of a problem is often far more essential than its solution

Love anything and your heart will be wrung and possibly broken. If you want to make sure of keeping it intact you must give it to no one, not even an animal.

I must feel the fire of my soul so my intellectual blues can set others on fire.

Fasting confirms our utter dependence upon God by finding in Him a source of sustenance beyond food.

Books are not men and yet they stay alive.

The real color of my hair is mouse. I always want to be ginger, which I was when I was born, or blond, because I live in L.A., and I want to look like I go surfing without any physical effort.

It's partly that I'm an extrovert and that I like being with people. If you shut me up in a library with nothing else around for weeks on end, I'd go mad! I have to sort of go out.

I’m not terribly interested in beauty. What touches me is someone who understands herself.