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.

No prison can hold me; no hand or leg irons or steel locks can shackle me. No ropes or chains can keep me from my freedom.

I do not believe that ghosts or spirits exist.

The eating of burning brimstone is an entirely fake performance.

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

The greatest escape I ever made was when I left Appleton, Wisconsin.

But it must not be thought that I say this out of personal experience: for in the many years that I have been before the public my secret methods have been steadily shielded by the strict integrity of my assistants, most of whom have been with me for years.