Magic is not inherently anything. It is what you sell it as.

To impress people as much as we would wish, we would first need to successfully adopt each of their value systems

Few kids seek to learn a skill specifically designed to impress people unless they feel less than impressive themselves.

...there is a fine line between wishing to produce child-like astonishment and treating people like infants.

We're terrible at realising what goes on in other people's heads because we are trapped inside our own.

When [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.

Magic 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.