Doug Henning Quotations

When I did my first few television specials, my illusions were so advanced that it took a couple of years before the other illusionists could even figure out what I was doing, let alone try to imitate me.

Magic is something that happens that appears to be impossible. What I call 'illusion magic' uses laws of science and nature that are already known. Real magic uses laws that haven't yet been discovered.

Now there was no wonder in the Statue of Liberty illusion because he, Copperfield, attempted to do something so large that it stretched the credibility of the audience to the point where most people didn't believe any of it anymore.

I have a policy of not saying anything negative about anything another magician does.

If I produce a 450-pound Bengal tiger, it's going to create a lot more wonder than if I produce a rabbit.

Wonder is very necessary in life. When we're little kids, we're filled with wonder for the world - it's fascinating and miraculous. A lot of people lose that. They become cynical and jaded, especially in modern day society. Magic renews that wonder.

The art of a magician is to create wonder. If we live with a sense of wonder, our lives become filled with joy.

Wonder is a very subtle, precious emotion, often lost in the gross hustle and bustle of modern life. When we feel wonder, we are immediately reminded of the purity and innocence of our childhood. Then, everything was magical and mysterious. Magic should help us relive that wonder.

The hard must become habit. The habit must become easy. The easy must become beautiful.

When I was in college, being a magician was not the classiest thing to be. It was like being a folk singer before Bob Dylan.

The reason I can give wonder is that I feel wonder about the world: the stars, a tree, my body - everything.

It's important to me to create the largest wonder.

I don't put a girl in a box and clap my hands three times, and she's gone. I get in the box, and I vanish, and I reappear at the other side of the stage. That way, people don't think, 'That's a great illusion.' They think, 'Doug's a great magician.'