"I think of this book, then, as a sort of natural history or anthology of hallucinations, describing the experiences and impact of hallucinations on those who have them, for the power of hallucinations is to be understood from first-person accounts." - pg xiv, Introduction

"I explained to her that hallucinations, strangely, are not uncommon in those with blindness or impaired sight, and that these visions are not 'psychiatric' but a reaction of the brain to the loss of eyesight. She had a condition called Charles Bon­net syndrome." - pg. 5, Chapter 1.

"There is even a special term for the trains of brilliantly colored and varied hallucinations which come to console or torment those kept in isolation or darkness: the prison's cinema." - pg. 34, Chapter 2

"It is clear that attitudes to hearing voices are critically important. One can be tortured by voices, as Daniel Smith's father was, or accepting...