...in the blink of an eye!

There is an old saying applied to magic:  "The hand is quicker than the eye"

Is it really?.....
An "old" saying for sure, because it applies to the art of magic over 75 years ago.  The magicians of yesteryear performed in social situations...most notably, drawing rooms of higher society.  The act of astonishment was a broad theatrical performance complete with exaggerated hand gestures and body movements. A magic show of it's day took on an air of "catch me if you can" or "see what I can do that you can't".  Performers had a certain arrogance....not unlike that portrayed by Houdini.

But there was a pioneer of modern day magic by the name.....
of Dai Vernon who almost overnight changed the face of magic and the magicians that would perform.  Magicians called him "Professor" and would travel miles to partake of his teachings and witness his miracles.

You see, Dai depended mainly on superb misdirection by using psychology and by hiding his "sleights" by the most natural of movements.  His teachers had been the gamblers at the bottom of society...whose very lives depended on secret moves to accomplish their means.  Gone were the broad movements and gestures of magical past....and in came the subtle and meek mannerisms that made the miracles of magic happen in today's world.

So you see, the hand is not necessarily "quicker" than the eye;  it is just so cunningly deceptive and misleading.
The hand betrays the eye by a variety of means.  Being "quick" is of very little use.