As a kid, I always was obsessed with Houdini.

As a kid, I always was obsessed with Houdini.

In truth, the only restrictions on our capacity to astonish ourselves and each other are imposed by our own minds.

I believe that fear of life brings a greater fear of death.

My only fear is the unknown.

I just believe that the feeling of wonder is amazing. I am pushing myself as far as I can humanly push myself... I can only hope for the best and expect the worse.

We are all capable of infinitely more than we believe.

I have not had time to reflect on my own truths in many years.

As a kid I used to hold my breath longer than anybody else, and then I heard stories about people accidently underwater for 45 minutes - how do you recover from that? It's not a miracle. Something allows us to survive.

Basically, I was a kid growing up with a single mother in Brooklyn.

But as they say about sharks, it's not the ones you see that you have to worry about, it's the ones you don't see.

I don't think you can say something is or isn't magic. That's what was cool about Houdini, because he was a magician who had a magic show, but he was also an escape artist, and they kind of, over time, blended together. They both kind of enhance each other, I think.

I hope people remember me as a guy who brought magic to the people. You know, pushed the boundaries of wonder.

I remember finding a Houdini book at the library and seeing an image of him chained on the side of a building. He looked so intense and scary, and I couldn't get that image out of my head. That started building up my love of magic.

I remember my mother had this deck of cards that her mother had given her and that she passed on to me. It was a gypsy tarot deck that I used to carry everywhere.

I think anybody can do any of these if they train. I don't recommend it, but anybody could do it if there was a need.

I think everything I do is normal, not paranormal but normal. It's using the power of the mind to achieve whatever we can endure.

I think magic, whether I'm holding my breath or shuffling a deck of cards, is pretty simple. It's practice, it's training, and it's - It's practice, it's training and experimenting, while pushing through the pain to be the best that I can be.

I think that when Evel Knievel crashed over the fountain at Caesar's, it kind of gave you a credibility and then anticipation for everything he did.

I thought instead of burying myself under dirt, I'd bury myself under water so everybody could see that you're there.

I was obsessed with the idea of fasting and isolation.

I'd go to Coney Island to hang out, and I saw a magician doing a rope trick on the boardwalk. I was fascinated. I guess that's how it started.

It was just like a digital fixation with cards and math and science and then I started to look at images of great magicians from Houdini down the line.

Magic's an art where you use slight of hand or illusion to create wonder. And I was just intrigued with that idea.

My mother encouraged it so much. She was so supportive. Even if as a kid, I would do the dumbest trick, which now that I look back on some things, she would love it, she would say that's amazing, or if I'd make the ugliest drawing, she would hang it up. She was amazing.

My mother was a teacher, and when she wanted to show me art and literature and science, she'd take me to museums, parks and free exhibitions.

People haven't even begun to tap into the potential of what the mind is possible of doing. We only use a certain percentage of our brains.

Whether you're shuffling a deck of cards or holding your breath, magic is pretty simple: It comes down to training, practice, and experimentation, followed up by ridiculous pursuit and relentless perseverance.

Magic is not about having a puzzle to solve. It's about creating a moment of awe and astonishment. And that can be a beautiful thing

China... has the capacity to ensure its stability and growth.

So as a prelude whites must be made to realise that they are only human, not superior. Same with Blacks. They must be made to realise that they are also human, not inferior.

You know, we were worried that in the UK, there's no anarchy on kids TV. When we grew up kids TV was very anarchic and it was about stuff that your parents would probably object to, if they got to object. And it's gotten very safe.

Any time you get a new running back, whether it's a rookie or hasn't played a lot, that's the first thing you test, is their pass protection. That's big.

The idea that we have the capacity to change or stop the climate, I'm just skeptical.

There was a time when you would dream about, say, movie stars. Now, you virtually follow them into their bathroom when they're going to the loo.

I'm one of those guys that spins through the clicker when I'm watching TV. When one of my movies comes on, I'll watch a scene or two.

For the entire state of Georgia, having the premiere of Gone With the Wind on home ground was like winning the Battle of Atlanta 75 years late.

When you're an actress, you become this thing in people's hands that people are trying to manipulate. I cannot stand it.

The world is a treadmill, and we are being pulled backward on it if we aren't consciously walking forward.

I just like being a social experiment sometimes. I really should not be allowed in public. But I just go out into the public just to see people's reaction. The thing is, I can do anything I want, virtually, within reason, just to see people's reaction.

You won’t get much done if you grind only on the days you feel good.

Golf is a game of ego, but it is also a game of integrity: the most important thing is you do what is right when no one is looking.

Our feet are planted in the real world but we dance with angels and ghosts.

But on second thought, after I decreed the state of emergency, I came to the conclusion that that was impossible to achieve without bloodshed because the street protesters were full of anger and nearly out of control. This is why I thought we needed to find another way out.

I used to ride horses when I was younger. Ponies were my life. I miss being fearless.

I've never minded solitude. For a writer, it's a natural condition. But caring for a dementia sufferer leads to a peculiar kind of loneliness.

My greatest vanity is my skin. It is the colour of gingerbread and, thanks to my mother's genes, smooth and mostly blemish-free.

I spent a lot of time star-gazing, writing, and learning languages when the other kids were doing cooler things in Detroit.

Once my mom passed away, I have nobody to answer to. It's great.