#superstition

My theory is that hope is a form of madness. A benevolent one, sure, but madness all the same. Like an irrational superstition--broken mirrors and so forth--hope's not based on any kind of logic, it's just unfettered optimism, grounded in nothing but faith in things beyond our control. ↗

— Benjamin Wood

#life-lessons #superstition #faith

Most people who offer their help do it to make themselves feel better, not us. To be honest, I don't blame them. It's superstition: If you give assistance to the family in need... if you throw salt over your shoulder... if you don't step on the cracks, then maybe you'll be immune. Maybe you'll be able to convince yourself that this could never happen to you. ↗

— Jodi Picoult

#help #precaution #superstition #family

He could hear that musket ball droning about the room, lethally bisecting it again and again like a billiard ball going from one cushion to another. He remained crouching there for a long time before he was able to convince himself that it was quite impossible, physically speaking, scientifically speaking, for a musket ball to go on and on ricocheting like that in a rectangular room; it could only be his imagination. So he forced himself to stand up again and suffered no ill-effects; a small but significant triumph for the scientific way of looking at things. ↗

— J.G. Farrell

#satire #science #superstition #imagination

The man who believes that the secrets of the world are forever hidden lives in mystery and fear. Superstition will drag him down. The rain will erode the deeds of his life. But that man who sets himself the task of singling out the thread of order from the tapestry will by the decision alone have taken charge of the world and it is only by such taking charge that he will effect a way to dictate the terms of his own fate. ↗

— Cormac McCarthy

#fate #fear #ignorance #life #order

They that are against superstition oftentimes run into it of the wrong side. If I wear all colors but black, then I am superstitious in not wearing black. ↗

— John Selden

#am #black #colors #i #i am

There are some things, after all, that Sally Owens knows for certain: Always throw spilled salt over your left shoulder. Keep rosemary by your garden gate. Add pepper to your mashed potatoes. Plant roses and lavender, for luck. Fall in love whenever you can. ↗

— Alice Hoffman

#love #magic #rosemary #salt #superstition

Security is mostly a superstition. It does not exist in nature, nor do the children of men as a whole experience it. Avoiding danger is no safer in the long run than outright exposure. Life is either a daring adventure, or nothing. ↗

— Helen Keller

#avoiding #children #danger #daring #does

Aaah ... when two Neptunes appear in the sky it is a sure sign that a midget in glasses is being born, Harry... ↗

— J.K. Rowling

#superstition #sky

Education levels are highly and negatively correlated to religious belief. In other words, ignorance is bliss. ↗

— Cesar Nascimento

#atheism #belief #rationalism #rationality #religion

I never think about the actual process of writing. I suppose I have a superstition about examining it too closely. ↗

— Anne Tyler

#actual #actual process #closely #examining #i