It cannot be too often repeated that truth scorns the assistance of miracle. Robert G Ingersoll
No one, in the world’s whole history, ever attempted to substantiate a truth by a miracle. Truth scorns the assistance of miracle. Nothing but falsehood ever attested itself by signs and wonders. No miracle ever was performed, and no sane man ever thought he had performed one, and until one is performed, there can be no evidence of the existence of any power superior to, and independent of nature. Robert G Ingersoll
People see what their personality is predisposed to see. Penn & Teller, Bullshit! s3e12: Signs from Heaven, Showtime 2005
You see what you want to see. ibid.
Man is manifestly not the measure of all things. This universe is shot through with mystery. The very fact of its being, and of our own, is a mystery absolute, and the only miracle worthy of the name. Sam Harris, The End of Faith: Religion, Terror, and the Future of Reason
Every day holds the possibility of a miracle. Elizabeth David, cookery writer
For miracles are ceased. William Shakespeare, Henry V I i 68, Ely to Canterbury
There are no miracles for those that have no faith in them. French proverb
The Infancy Gospel of Thomas begins with a scene with Jesus by a stream, playing in the water in the mud. He starts forming some speros out of the mud, and as he’s doing this, a Jewish man walks by and sees what he’s doing and gets upset because it’s the Sabbath day, so Jesus is violating the Sabbath, is working on the Sabbath. Professor Bart Ehrman, University of Northern California
Miracles: through the world they defy the laws of Nature ... Studies show that prayer helps the healing process when a person is severely injured. Unexplained Mysteries e12: Miracles on Earth, 2003
David Hume’s logic on this is quite irrefutable. He said, What is more likely – that the laws of nature have been suspended in your favour, and in a way you approve, or that you’ve made a mistake? Christopher Hitchens
The age of miracles seems to lie somewhere in our past. Christopher Hitchens, God is Not Great p140
It is surprising how petty some of the ‘supernatural’ miracles now seem ... Nothing truly interesting is ever said or done. ibid. p140
Has the art of resurrection died out? Or are we relying on dubious sources? ibid. p142
The miracle of the sun that took place on October 13th in 1917 was such a profound miracle, witnessed by seventy thousand people, the Church believes was a matter of divine intervention. The Church accepts this as a miracle. Michael La Corte, director WAFUSA
The Church itself uses Science to identify where God might be at work. Horizon: The End of God? A Horizon Guide to Science and Religion, BBC 2010
In Mark what does set Jesus apart is that he is a peculiar kind of miracle worker. In one case he has to attempt the miracle twice to get it right. And at other times he can’t perform miracles at all. From Jesus to Christ: The First Christians III, PBS 1998
One manuscript, the Infancy Gospel of Thomas, is a startling collection of tales showing an immature child wielding supernatural powers. But at the riverbank Jesus doesn’t form Adam in his own image; he creates something completely different. Jesus: The Secret Life
Fables should be taught as fables, myths as myths, and miracles as poetic fantasies. To teach superstitions as truths is a most terrible thing. The child mind accepts and believes them, and only through great pain and perhaps tragedy can he be after years relieved of them. Hypatia
Anyone who doesn't believe in miracles is not a realist. David Ben-Gurion
Science is only truly consistent with an atheistic worldview with regards to the claimed miracles of the gods of Judaism, Christianity and Islam. Lawrence M Krauss
Miracles, in the sense of phenomena we cannot explain, surround us on every hand: life itself is the miracle of miracles. George Bernard Shaw
Humans! They lived in a world where the grass continued to be green and the sun rose every day and flowers regularly turned into fruit, and what impressed them? Weeping statues. And wine made out of water! A mere quantum-mechanistic tunnel effect, that’d happen anyway if you were prepared to wait zillions of years. As if the turning of sunlight into wine, by means of vines and grapes and time and enzymes, wasn’t a thousand times more impressive and happened all the time. Terry Pratchett, Small Gods
Since man cannot live without miracles, he will provide himself with miracles of his own making. He will believe in witchcraft and sorcery, even though he may otherwise be a heretic, an atheist, and a rebel. Fyodor Dostoyevsky, The Brothers Karamazov
The genuine realist, if he is an unbeliever, will always find strength and ability to disbelieve in the miraculous, and if he is confronted with a miracle as an irrefutable fact he would rather disbelieve his own senses than admit the miraculous also. ibid.
It requires only two things to win credit for a miracle: a mountebank and a number of silly women. Marquis de Sade
I’m waiting on a miracle, OK? John Q 2002 starring Denzel Washington & Robert Duvall & James Woods & Daniel E Smith & Anne Heche & Ray Liotta & Shawn Hatosy & Heath Wahlquist & David Thornton & Laura Harring & Troy Beyer & Kevin Connolly & Troy Winbush et al, director Nick Cassavetes, pal
Everyday miracles have transformed our homes, our worlds and ourselves. Everyday Miracles: The Genius of Sofas, Stockings and Scanners I, BBC 2015
Inventors and designers have transformed our homes. ibid.
Our first everyday miracle ... foam ... Just quite how important materials are – they are at the heart of civilisation. ibid.
A new technology that soon everyone in the world would want ... Cragside: he [Armstrong] wanted to go electric ... The light-bulb was born ... In 1948 transistors arrived that could do the same job as valves ... Next came silicon ... LED lights … ibid.
Concrete has been used as a building material for over four thousand years ... It can be moulded in almost any shape ... Steel is unbelievably strong under tension. ibid.
Plywood is another everyday miracle ... The glue bonds with the wood fibres and sets hard ... Strength, flexibility and mouldability ... The Mosquito was the fastest aircraft in the world, and the secret to its success was that it was made almost entirely of plywood ... All because of the remarkable properties of plywood. ibid.
Materials have transformed the ways we live. ibid.
We know it simply as plastic ... The ultimate manufacturing material ... Plastic fibres ... Nylon … ibid.
Every day our lives collide with thousands of things ... The trappings of modern life and the materials they are made of have transformed our lives. Everyday Miracles: The Genius of of Sofas, Stockings and Scanners II, BBC 2015
It’s called carbon-fibre composite ... His high performance running leg. ibid.
MRI is now a standard diagnostic technique – an everyday miracle. ibid.
It’s with us now and it’s called 3D printers ... A powerful new technology. ibid.
Believers think God communicates to us through miracles. That miracles are a proof of the divine. Morgan Freeman, The Story of God s1e6: The Power of Miracles, National Geographic 2016
Everything will be fine because you are a miracle. The Sinner s1e7: Episodio VII, mother to Cora’s sister, USA Network 2017
We just wanted to live. That’s all it was. I’m more free now than I was living with you. ibid. Cora to mother visiting
They are still out there. ibid. Cora to judge
It was you. I remember your eyes. The Sinner s1e8: Episodio VIII, Cora to dude
Extreme emotional disturbance … transferred to a secure psychiatric facility. ibid. judge
Joan is said to have achieved a miracle here in Orleans. By ending the crushing siege and forcing the English into retreat. Mystery Files: Joan of Arc, National Geographic 2010
And Moses answered and said, But, behold, they will not believe me, nor hearken unto my voice: for they will say, The Lord hath not appeared unto thee.
And the Lord said unto him, What is that in thine hand? And he said, A rod.