a proper dictionary is a book of spells

--- Jeanette Winterson, in the New York Times, "Jeanette Winterson Owns the Entire Oxford English Dictionary," Sept. 26, 2019, via Jana Luther in episode of RSG's Taaldinge, Oct. 6, 2019

In context

I have the 24-volume hardcover O.E.D. plus supplements. My young friends look astonished: Why not just Google it? But there is so much else in there than simple definition or derivation. To me, a proper dictionary is a book of spells.

[Science Fiction is] that branch of literature that deals with the consequences for humanity of the use of tools

--- Nalo Hopkinson, quoted by Amanda Rees on the BBC Radio 4's In Our Time program on HG Wells's The Time Machine (timecode 11:33)

According to various web sources, Isaac Asimov defined it as "that branch of literature which is concerned with the impact of scientific advance upon human beings" (Modern Science Fiction, 1953).

You never know what is enough unless you know what is more than enough

--- William Blake, in The Marriage of Heaven and Hell, according to goodreads Quotable Quote. Via Akiko Kinney, 25 Sep 2019.

A few lines around this aphorism from Project Gutenberg's The Marriage of Heaven and Hell, section "Proverbs of Hell":

He who has suffered you to impose on him knows you.

As the plough follows words, so God rewards prayers.

The tigers of wrath are wiser than the horses of instruction.

Expect poison from the standing water.

You never know what is enough unless you know what is more than enough.

Listen to the fool’s reproach; it is a kingly title.

The eyes of fire, the nostrils of air,[18] the mouth of water, the beard of earth.

The weak in courage is strong in cunning.

The apple tree never asks the beech how he shall grow, nor the lion the horse how he shall take his prey.

The thankful receiver bears a plentiful harvest.

If others had not been foolish we should have been so.

For more quotes from The Marriage of Heaven and Hell, see https://www.goodreads.com/work/quotes/24837-the-marriage-of-heaven-and-hell.