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Quote#Nature

If we define a miracle as an effect of which the cause is unknown to…

Quote byCharles Babbage · 1791–1871

Commonly attributed — not confirmed in an authoritative edition. Cited on Wikiquote to: Passages from the Life of a Philosopher (1864), "Passages from the life of a philosopher", Appendix, p. 489.

English (original)

If we define a miracle as an effect of which the cause is unknown to us, then we make our ignorance the source of miracles! and the universe itself would be a standing miracle. A miracle might be perhaps defined more exactly as an effect which is not the consequence or effect of any known laws of nature.

— Charles Babbage

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