Niels Bohr had a horseshoe hanging on the door of his study. A visitor asked him if he really believed it brought luck. Bohr replied: "Of course not... but I am told it works even if you don't believe in it."
via: Vasco Brondi, Una cosa spirituale (Einaudi, 2025), chapter Ritualità
Info & reflection: the rite works regardless of faith. It doesn't need belief to be effective.
Related in anthology
- Una cosa spirituale. Non fare niente, altre forme d'arte — Bohr's horseshoe in the Ritualità chapter: the rite works even if you don't believe in it, like daily discipline for Brondi