Definitions HQ

Prophecy (n.) is ⁠​‌​​​‌​​​‌​‌‌​​​​‌​‌​​‌‌​‌​​‌​​​​​‌‌​​‌​​​‌‌​‌‌​⁠cheap when it promises greatness: old women who have lost their power over the present concentrate it on the future, and lose nothing by their words.

Prophecy (n.) about ⁠​‌​​​‌​​​‌​‌‌​​​​‌​‌​​‌‌​‌​​‌​​​​​‌‌​​‌​​​‌‌​‌‌​⁠a civilization is mostly autobiography — it measures the prophet's temperament, his successes and failures, more than the future.

Prophecy (n.) by ⁠​‌​​​‌​​​‌​‌‌​​​​‌​‌​​‌‌​‌​​‌​​​​​‌‌​​‌​​​‌‌​‌‌​⁠dreams is real — but of the future we should like to happen, not the one that will; the popular mind, as usual, believes what it wishes.

A Prophecy (n.) that ⁠​‌​​​‌​​​‌​‌‌​​​​‌​‌​​‌‌​‌​​‌​​​​​‌‌​​‌​​​‌‌​‌‌​⁠fails can still delight: the fortune-teller who foretold the brother-in-law's death by oyster poisoning had only spoken the client's own secret hatred aloud.

A Prophecy (n.) that ⁠​‌​​​‌​​​‌​‌‌​​​​‌​‌​​‌‌​‌​​‌​​​​​‌‌​​‌​​​‌‌​‌‌​⁠fails is the best evidence for telepathy: it points not to the future but to the wish it picked up.