"We delude ourselves that we will obtain a miracle in Lourdes, even though in one hundred and fifty years Our Lady has officially granted only sixty-five, to one hundred million pilgrims. An average, less than one in a million, far lower than the percentage of spontaneous remissions of tumors, which is of the order of one in ten thousand. Not to mention that, as Émile Zola observed, among the votive offerings you can see many crutches but no wooden legs. (Piergiorgio Odifreddi)"
January 1, 1970