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lil  ·  3334 days ago  ·  link  ·    ·  parent  ·  post: 12th Occasional Quotesporn Thread

I picked up a book (from the library) called The Magic of Reality: How Do We Know What's Really True by Richard Dawkins, the evolutionary biologist and author of The Selfish Gene. My mother said her book club was reading it. The title question is something I ask in various ways all the time. The book actually seems aimed at young people and is full of illustrations by graphic novel artist, Dave McKean. The first chapter is called, "What is reality? What is magic?" and after explaining what reality is, he says:

    I want now to turn to the other key word of my title: magic. Magic is a slippery word: it is commonly used in three different ways, and the first thing I must do is distinguish between them. I'll call the first one 'supernatural magic.' the second one 'stage magic' and the third one (which is my favourite meaning, and the one I intend in my title) 'poetic magic.'