As lightning clears the air of impalpable vapours, so an incisive paradox frees the human intelligence from the lethargic influence of latent and unsuspected assumptions. Paradox is the slayer of Prejudice.

The Collected Mathematical Papers of James Joseph Sylvester (Volume 3), A Lady's Fan on Parallel Motion, and on an Orthogonal Web of Jointed, Rods (p. 36)