One that comes to mind for me: "Whatever doesn't kill you makes you stronger" is not always true. Maybe even only half the time! Are there any phrases you tend to hear and shake your head at?
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I think you got a couple downvotes because you took the quote far too literally. The person who said it did not believe in magic and was not trying to compare a nonexistent supernatural force to hyper advanced technology. If you look up the quote I'm sure you'll find some essays about what Arthur was getting at.
For a very simple example, suppose an alien showed up and had antigravity tech built into their clothing or even as a cybernetic implant, that let them hover around in the air with no discernible means of propulsion. The average modern human would probably look at that and think "fuckin magic..." because you literally can't understand or recognize what is going on or how it works.
Or another example using 'time travel' instead of aliens. Imagine putting a medieval peasant in the back seat of a fighter jet taking off from an aircraft carrier, or in a VR helmet to experience a virtual trip around the galaxy, zooming around planets and stars. In both cases there are unfathomable things right in front of their eyes everywhere they look. They would have no fucking clue what was going on in either case. To you and me those are normal, understandable things. To the medieval peasant, it's magic.
Well yeah, but that's why I dislike the quote. It doesn't say what it means. Every example of what it intends to convey kinda falls back to the spruce vs pine thing to the uneducated eye. It doesn't matter if I understand how the alien antigravity socks work -if they're tech, they're tech. Hell, I don't understand how the cell phone I'm posting from works. It could literally be filled with tiny wizards who are actively casting a spell to send my thoughts to Lemmy - I dunno, and I can't verify. I'm reasonably confident that's not the case: despite all the functions this device is capable of that do indeed feel magical, that doesn't make it magical.
The quote doesn't say it is magic though, actually. It just says, that from our perspective, it's indistinguishable from magic.
It does not say from our perspective, it just says they're indistinguishable. Which is incorrect.
from our perspective is implied in every sentence ever.
And no, you can't expect phrases to "say what they mean"----that would just require them to include more phrases, etc..
See? That's what I like about the quote. It points to the fact that the difference is in the eye of the beholder.