Houdini

Only one man ever betrayed my confidence, and that only in a minor matter.

Fire has always been and, seemingly, will always remain, the most terrible of the elements.

I make the most money, I think, in Russia and Paris, for the people of those countries are so willing to be amused, so eager to see something new and out of the ordinary.

The easiest way to attract a crowd is to let it be known that at a given time and a given place someone is going to attempt something that in the event of failure will mean sudden death.

I am Houdini and you are a fraud!

I am a great admirer of mystery and magic. Look at this life — all mystery and magic.

BELIEVE.

Gladly would I embrace Spiritualism if it could prove its claims, but I am not willing to be deluded by the fraudulent impositions of so-called psychics, or accept as sacred reality any of the evidence that has been placed before me thus far.

I am willing to state that Spiritualism is a fraud of the worst description. I have had a life of sorrow, I have been poor and ill, but I consider it my duty, a sacred thing, a holy mission to expose it.

If God in his greatness ever sent an angel on Earth in human form, it was my mother.

If men did not try and get something for nothing they might often be able to retain that which they have.

Sir Arthur, I have devoted a lot of time and thought to this illusion ... I won't tell you how it was done, but I can assure you it was pure trickery. I did it by perfectly normal means. I devised it to show you what can be done along these lines. Now, I beg of you, Sir Arthur, do not jump to the conclusion that certain things you see are necessarily “supernatural,” or the work of “spirits,” just because you cannot explain them.

Doors only lock, Because enemy within scares more than outside.

You see a trick when performed by an ordinary magician is not the same in my hands. I weave an air of romance and mystery about it and it appears in a different light, for example my card star trick...

But then, so far as I know, I am the only performer who ever pledged his assistants to secrecy, honor and allegiance under a notarial oath.

I think that in a year I may retire. I cannot take my money with me when I die and I wish to enjoy it, with my family, while I live. I should prefer living in Germany to any other country, though I am an American, and am loyal to my country.

To cause the face to appear in a mass of flame make use of the following: mix together thoroughly petroleum, lard, mutton tallow and quick lime.

What the eyes sees, the ear hears, and the mind believes.

The secret of showmanship consists not of what you really do, but what the mystery-loving public thinks you do.

There is nothing more contagious than exuberant enthusiasm.