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It is for the philosophic student to trace the train of thought which underlies the magicians practice; to draw out the few simple threads of which the tangled skein is composed; to disengage the abstract principles from their concrete applications; in short, to discern the spurious science from the bastard art.

— James Frazer The Golden Bough (1890)

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More quotes by James Frazer

If mankind had always been logical and wise, history would not be a long chronicle of folly and crime.

The Golden Bough (1890)

The scapegoat upon whom the sins of the people are periodically laid, may also be a human being.

The Golden Bough (1890)

We seem to move on a thin crust which may at any moment be rent by the subterranean forces slumbering below.

The Golden Bough (1890)

The temple of the sylvan goddess, indeed, has vanished, and the King of the Wood no longer stands sentinel over the Golden Bough.

The Golden Bough (1890)

The consideration of human suffering is not one which enters into the calculations of primitive man.

The Golden Bough (1890)

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Quote text and notes from Wikiquote: James Frazer (page history), available under CC BY-SA 4.0. Source quality and labels are our own summary of what Wikiquote records.