I grew up like Athena — covered with playing cards instead of armor — and, at the age of seven, materialized on a TV show, doing magic.

The pain is bad magicians ripping off good ones, doing magic badly, and making a mockery of the art.

For me, the most exciting thing is to create good magic that's entertaining for an audience, and it would be lovely if a magician was fooled as well.

The book says we may be through with the past but the past ain't through with us.

Not only do I lie, I take real pleasure in lying, in the transmission of magic effects.

Every acting gig isn't the same, every writing job isn't the same, every live performance isn't the same - the challenge is the level of difficulty or ease, and that may vary.

I love amazing people. I love dazzling them. That's why I think performing magic is one of the greatest things a person can do.

My father was the Formica King of Long Island, and my mother was the daughter of a Bengal Lancer in India.

If it sounds too good to be true, it always is.

I suppose that if I could only do one thing, a solid card effect would be pretty high on the list. That's the root of it all, sleight-of-hand. It's certainly the thing I feel most comfortable with.

I never talk much about my family, but my grandfather was friendly with these guys, with magicians and ventriloquists on the highest levels, and I was just interested.

If you are not thinking differently, you are not exercising your freedom.

You shall love your neighbourWith your crooked heart, It says so much about love and brokenness -- it's perfect.

In general, empathy is easier the more we can identify with someone. When we can genuinely envision ourselves in a situation, it's possible to intuit what that person's suffering might feel like.

No democracy can exist unless each of its citizens is as capable of outrage at injustice to another as he is of outrage at unjustice to himself.

If I have a script, I tend to stick to it even if God may be leading me elsewhere in the moment.

I begged my mom for a beat machine, she spent a crazy amount of money - so there were no more Christmases, no more basketball camps, no more birthday gifts. I always knew that's what I wanted to do.

BMW models are more powerful on average than competitors. This is precisely what we are aiming for: less fuel consumption and more driving pleasure.

If I believe I will win, then victory will believe in me.

To embrace luck, you have to enhance your tolerance for ambiguity.

If you learn how to defeat that person when you're running. You will know how to not quit when things get hard in your life.