Black magic Quote by David Kahn
““cryptology is black magic in itself springs ultimately from a superficial resemblance between cryptology and divination. Extracting an intelligible message from ciphertext seemed to be exactly the same thing as obtaining knowledge by examining the flight of birds, the location of stars and planets, the length and intersections of lines in the hand, the entrails of sheep, the position of dregs in a teacup. In all of these, the wizardlike operator draws sense from grotesque, unfamiliar, and apparently meaningless signs. He makes known the unknown.””
About This Quote
Source Book: The Codebreakers: The Comprehensive History of Secret Communication, 1996
Cryptology resembles divination: both extract meaning from seemingly random symbols, turning chaos into knowledge.
In simple terms: Cryptology is like reading signs to find hidden messages.
Key Takeaway
Treat cryptographic challenges as pattern‑recognition puzzles.
Themes
mystery
interpretation
knowledge
science
Mood
analytical
curious
Type
educational
philosophical
When to use this quote
- security analysis
- historical research
- cryptographic design
Key Concepts
symbolic analysis
pattern recognition
Questions to Reflect On
- What patterns do you overlook in data?
- How does intuition aid cryptanalysis?
A Different Perspective
Complexity can obscure true meaning.
![“The technique was at least moderately well known, for Ibn Khaldūn wrote in The Muqaddimah: “Occasionally, skillful secretaries, though not the first to invent a code [and with no previous knowledge of it], nonetheless find rules [for solving it] through combinations which they evolve for the…” quote by David Kahn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/img-quotes/1d1/david-kahn-13896_programming_the-technique-was-at-least-moderately-we_657231.jpg)
