"every magic trick consists of three parts, or acts. the first part is called 'the pledge'. the magician shows you something ordinary. a deck of cards, a bird or a man. he shows you this object. perhaps he asks you to inspect it, to see that it is indeed real, unaltered, normal. but, of course, it probably isn't."
...
"you'd drink, too, if you knew the world half as well as i do. did you think you were unique? i've been caesar, i've played faust. how difficult could it possibly be to play the great danton?"
...
"- i love you. i will always love you and you alone.
- you mean it today.
- absolutely.
- which makes it so much harder when you don't."
...
"ladies and gentlemen, my first trick of the evening involves considerable risk. anyone in the audience who would be irrevocably damaged by seeing a man drown should leave now. when i tell you the lady who taught me this illusion actually died performing it, you'll understand the seriousness of the dangers involved. let's begin. in my travels, I have seen the future. and it is a strange future, indeed. the world, ladies and gentlemen, is on the brink of new and terrifying possibilities. what you're about to witness is not magic. it's purely science."
