Each of us is leading a difficult life, and when we meet people we are seeing only a tiny part of the thinnest veneer of their complex, troubled existences. To practise anything other than kindness towards them, to treat them in any way save generously, is to quietly deny their humanity.
Derren BrownThe single most valuable human trait, the one quality every schoolchild and adult should be taught to nurture, is, quite simply, kindness.
Derren BrownSeems the seance has become the most complained-about show. It received 700 complaints. I might add that the prospect of me blowing my head off on live TV last year attracted only twenty. Fair enough, I suppose.
Derren BrownI am often dishonest in my techniques ... I happily admit to cheating, it's all part of the game. I hope some of the fun for the viewer comes from not knowing what's real and what isn't
Derren BrownI’m a big fan of parrots - I think they’re fascinating creatures. Many of them live for longer than us humans and it's interesting to me the way they learn to mimic human voices even though they don't really comprehend what they're saying.
Derren BrownWe forget our health and comfort and notice a pinching shoe. Much of living well is detaching from our boring stories of pain and shifting focus
Derren BrownWhereas non-scientific (and potentially dangerous) thinking starts with a premise and then looks for things that support it, scientific thinking constantly tries to disprove itself. That alone makes all the difference in the world.
Derren BrownThere are things in your life which you are in control of, and those you're not. You need to not care about those things which you're not in control of, and when you come to really understand that, you can go from being really upset about something to that lovely feeling of being a kid where everything is okay.
Derren BrownBooking an act for my Dad's 70th birthday, I wanted a great act and went straight to John Archer- his reputation in the magic world is among the very best. I was so pleased he was able to do it, and he absolutely brought the house down. It was brilliant, hysterically funny, and perfectly pitched for the occasion. He made the evening. I'd recommend him unreservedly.
Derren BrownOur fascination with weather: its caprices and changes as an antidote to the eternal repetition of daily life; a helpful illusion of novelty
Derren BrownWhen [the magician] clicks his fingers and cards change to the four aces, we know we have experienced sleight of hand. Real magic would not be quite that quick and easy. Real magic would take investment. Real magic would draw you in, and make you nervous.
Derren BrownThe desire to impress is an efficient means of bringing out one’s least impressive qualities.
Derren BrownLiberating but hard to remember we're just bit-parts in the lives of people we know, who care very little for our secrets
Derren BrownA lot of unconfident kids do tricks because it's the quickest route to impressing people," he explains. "You can stand behind something amazing and people think you're amazing.
Derren BrownMagic is a performance, and a performance should have an honesty, a relevance and a resonance if it is to be offered to spectators without insulting them.
Derren BrownIn magic we have a variety of "uses" for our art beyond magic itself, which reminds me of the notion of art therapy. The rendering of art inferior to therapy is an interesting one: interesting in the sense that it makes me want to vomit angrily.
Derren BrownWe're terrible at realising what goes on in other people's heads because we are trapped inside our own.
Derren BrownFew kids seek to learn a skill specifically designed to impress people unless they feel less than impressive themselves.
Derren BrownTo impress people as much as we would wish, we would first need to successfully adopt each of their value systems
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