"The self-fulfilling prophecy is, in the beginning, a false definition of the situation evoking a new behavior which makes the original false conception come true. This specious validity of the self-fulfilling prophecy perpetuates a reign of error. For the prophet will cite the actual course of events as proof that he was right from the very beginning." (en) Merton, Robert K. (1968). Social Theory and Social Structure. Free Press, p. 477. ISBN 0-02-921130-1.
