James Randi quotes

James Randi was a Canadian-American stage magician and scientific skeptic, renowned for investigating paranormal and pseudoscientific claims. His foundation famously offered a monetary prize to anyone who could demonstrate supernatural abilities under controlled conditions. He became a leading figure in promoting critical thinking and skepticism worldwide. Here are 18 of his quotes:

Uri Geller may have psychic powers by means of which he can bend spoons; if so, he appears to be doing it the hard way.

James Randi

Sir, there is a distinct difference between having an open mind and having a hole in your head from which your brain leaks out.

James Randi

Magicians are the most honest people in the world; they tell you they're gonna fool you, and then they do it.

James Randi

... it's time for the opening lecture in Test Design 101: Consider: a woman claims to be a musician. You seat her at a piano and demand that she prove her claim. She cannot play the piano, and you conclude that her claim has been invalidated. Hardly. You see, the lady is a cellist.... You cannot challenge a claimant to do something they've never claimed they can do. That's why, at the JREF, we design a protocol only after the applicant has clearly stated (a) what they can do, (b) under what conditions, and (c) with what expected degree of success. And, the applicant must find the protocol appropriate, fair, agreeable, and adequate to prove their claim.

James Randi

The New Age? Its just the old age stuck in a microwave oven for fifteen seconds.

James Randi

The only difference is that religion is much better organised and has been around much longer, but it's the same story with different characters and different costumes.

James Randi

I suggest that we might want to depose this incumbent God and start dealing with The Real World. He's proven - time and again - to be cruel, capricious, and vindictive. He drowns, crushes, burns, and starves millions of us every day. He created cancer, viruses, and germs to invade and destroy our bodies as He sees fit, and uses them very effectively. In His wisdom, He directed those in charge to impede stem cell research so that such a powerful approach would not be available to us and He wouldn't have to strain the Divine Intellect to disarm that defense. We amuse Him as we flail about vainly trying to appease Him. I vote that we dump Him.

James Randi

A quick example of that is a woman who said she'd been healed of throat cancer where the faith healer admitted he touched her on the forehead.

James Randi

I questioned her further, and eventually got to talk to her doctor. And her doctor sort of shook his head and he said, 'I have examined her for throat cancer at least 15 times in the past few years.

James Randi

Feeling better is not actually being better.

James Randi

To make sure that my blasphemy is thoroughly expressed, I hereby state my opinion that the notion of a god is a basic superstition, that there is no evidence for the existence of any god(s), that devils, demons, angels and saints are myths, that there is no life after death, heaven nor hell, that the Pope is a dangerous, bigoted, medieval dinosaur, and that the Holy Ghost is a comic-book character worthy of laughter and derision. I accuse the Christian god of murder by allowing the Holocaust to take place -- not to mention the "ethnic cleansing" presently being performed by Christians in our world -- and I condemn and vilify this mythical deity for encouraging racial prejudice and commanding the degradation of women.

James Randi

The problem with experiments has always been that human beings make the decisions on whether or not the animals have benefitted from the treatment.

James Randi

I do not expect that homeopathy will ever be established as a legitimate form of treatment, but I do expect that it will continue to be popular.

James Randi

However, I believe that it would be difficult to have legitimate scientists agree to participate.

James Randi

They would have been very let down if they had to leave the theater and he had missed. He would feel badly. Everyone would feel badly. But he never let them down.

James Randi

There's something about the Houdini act that is not always made clear - about the escape act in general.

James Randi