Houdini — "I have always been fascinated by anything that is mysterious and unexplained."

"My greatest delight is in baffling and bewildering."

"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 …"

"The greatest escape I ever made was when I escaped from a straitjacket underwater."

"I believe in the power of the human spirit to overcome all obstacles."

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