Lavey Quotes

I like raunchiness, not like in a biker-chick sort of a way, but like the girl can't help it. Little bruises, a few hairs out of place, a little stain here and there. ~ Anton Szandor LaVey

I have a passion for big cats, I like big snakes. There is something about snakes that is so wise, they have this uncanny perfection. I'd like to get inside their reptilian heads. ~ Anton Szandor LaVey

Virtue is its own punishment - "nice girls" lose - and one of the surest signs of potential proficiency in witchcraft is an inability to get along with other women. ~ Anton Szandor LaVey

Magic is never totally scientifically explainable, but science has always been, at one time or another, considered magic. ~ Anton Szandor LaVey

Unfortunately for a multitude of occultists, humor is a rare ingredient in their lives. In fact it is their very lack of humor that has impelled them into the arcane and esoteric. ~ Anton Szandor LaVey

As the war progresses, and as population increases to an even more intolerable level stretching resources to impossible lengths, the strong will begin fighting for their very survival. That's what we're seeing right now. Society will become more and more stratified into the people who aren't buying the bullshit in society and those who blindly follow where they are led. Satanists, freethinkers, are a burgeoning minority cause. We have an illness that needs to be recognized just like alcoholism, handicaps, addictive behaviors and AIDS. We suffer from a disease called independence - a pathological aversion to regimentation and institutionalism - which prevents us from getting 'regular' jobs and living a 'normal' life. ~ Anton Szandor LaVey

You cannot love everyone; it is ridiculous to think you can. ~ Anton Szandor LaVey

If a witch comes up to me some day, enlarges her pupils, and says: "With a hey nonnie nonnie and a hotcha cha," she'll be sure to get my attention! ~ Anton Szandor LaVey

Satanism encourages its followers to indulge in their natural desires. Only by doing so can you be a completely satisfied person with no frustrations which can be harmful to yourself and others around you. Therefore, the most simplified description of the Satanic belief is: INDULGENCE INSTEAD OF ABSTINENCE ~ Anton Szandor LaVey

Satan represents man as just another animal, sometimes better, more often worse than those that walk on all-fours, who, because of his "divine spiritual and intellectual development," has become the most vicious animal of all! ~ Anton Szandor LaVey

We are no longer supplicating weaklings trembling before an unmerciful "God" who cares not whether we live or die. ~ Anton Szandor LaVey

The Satanist knows that praying does absolutely no good- in fact, it actually lessens the chance of success, for the devoutly religious too often sit back complacently and pray for a situation which, if they were to do something about it on their own, could be accomplished much quicker! ~ Anton Szandor LaVey

What good are friends if they cant do you any good? ~ Anton Szandor LaVey

I break away from all conventions that do not lead to my earthly success and happiness. ~ Anton Szandor LaVey

There is no heaven, there is no hell, except here on Earth. ~ Anton Szandor LaVey

Whatever alleged 'truth' is proven by results to be but an empty fiction, let it be unceremoniously flung into the outer darkness, among the dead gods, dead empires, dead philosophies, and other useless lumber and wreckage! ~ Anton Szandor LaVey

Since man's natural instincts lead him to sin, all men are sinners; and all sinners go to hell. If everyone goes to hell, then you will meet all your friends there. ~ Anton Szandor LaVey

Yeah, well, I'm crazy, but I'm not stupid, hopefully. And I think we're all a bit crazy if we do anything that's deviant. I've studied a great deal on deviance and aberrant behavior. Most of the interesting people I've ever met have been deviant in one form or another. ~ Anton Szandor LaVey

Don't let that little pyramid with the bright eye fool you. That's to draw your attention away from the real thing: the big trapezoid beneath it. ~ Anton Szandor LaVey

Do what you want as long as its paying off for you. But once its become a liability, then something is wrong and you better find out what it is. ~ Anton Szandor LaVey

The real satanist is not quite so easily recognized as such ~ Anton Szandor LaVey

You ever read Anton LaVey? ~ Ken Bruen

The Atheist complains about the wind. The Christian prays for it to change. The Satanist adjusts his sails. ~ Anton Szandor LaVey

The Satanist realizes that man, and the action and reaction of the universe, is responsible for everything, and doesn't mislead himself into thinking that someone cares. ~ Anton Szandor LaVey

The other exception to the rule regards dealings with masochists. A masochist derives pleasure from being hurt; so denying the masochist his pleasure through-pain hurts him just as much as actual physical pain hurts the non masochist. The story of the truly cruel sadist illustrates this point: The masochist says to the sadist, "beat me." To which the merciless sadist replies, "NO!" If a person wants to be hurt and enjoys suffering, then there is no reason not to indulge him in his
wont. ~ Anton Szandor LaVey

Even though the god in all these religions is basically the same, each regards the way chosen by the others as reprehensible, and to top it all, religionists actually PRAY for one another! They have scorn for their brothers of the right-hand path because their religions carry different labels, and somehow this animosity must be released. What better way than through "prayer"! What a simperingly polite way of saying: "I hate your gusts," is the thinly disguised device known as praying for your enemy! Praying for one's own enemy is nothing more than bargain-basement anger, and of a decidedly shoddy and inferior quality! ~ Anton Szandor LaVey

N OTHING is done in the interest of welfare for the common good where there is money to be made. ~ Anton Szandor LaVey

I give people Ayn Rand with trappings, ~ Anton Szandor LaVey

Satan has been the best friend the church has ever had, as he has kept it in business all these years! ~ Anton Szandor LaVey

The most dangerous of all enthroned lies is the holy, the sanctified, the privileged lie- the lie everyone believes to be a model truth. It is the fruitful mother of all other popular errors and delusions. It is a hydra-headed tree of unreason with a thousand roots. it is a social cancer! ~ Anton Szandor LaVey

SECRETS ARE POWER. WHEN YOU DIVULGE A SECRET, YOU BARTER THE POTENTIAL power of your hidden knowledge for the fleeting ego boost that comes with its revelation. ~ Anton Szandor LaVey

There is nothing inherently sacred about moral codes. Like the wooden idols of long ago, they are the work of human hands, and what man has made, man can destroy! ~ Anton Szandor LaVey

At this stage of the game, I don't have the time for patience and tolerance. Ten years ago, even five years ago, I would have listened to people ask their questions, explained to them, mollified them. No more. That time is past. Now, as Norman Mailer said in Naked and the Dead, 'I hate everything which is not in myself.' If it doesn't have a direct bearing on what I'm advocating, if it doesn't augment or stimulate my life and thinking, I don't want to hear it. It has to add something to my life. There's no more time for explaining and being ecumenical anymore. No more time. That's a characteristic I share with the new generation of Satanists, which might best be termed, and has labeled itself in many ways, an 'Apocalypse culture.' Not that they believe in the biblical Apocalypse - the ultimate war between good and evil. Quite the contrary. But that there is an urgency, a need to get on with things and stop wailing and if it ends tomorrow, at least we'll know we've lived today. It's a 'fiddle while Rome burns' philosophy. It's the Satanic philosophy. If the generation born in the 50's grew up in the shadow of The Bomb and had to assimilate the possibility of imminent self destruction of the entire planet at any time, those born in the 60's have had to reconcile the inevitability of our own destruction, not through the bomb but through mindless, uncontrolled overpopulation. And somehow resolve in themselves, looking at what history has taught us, that no amount of yelling, prot ~ Anton Szandor LaVey

It is rather curious that the only time suicide is considered sinful by other religions is when it comes as an indulgence. ~ Anton Szandor LaVey

Blessed are the destroyers of false hope, for they are the true Messiahs - Cursed are the god-adorers, for they shall be shorn sheep! ~ Anton Szandor LaVey

To be loved, feelings must be rationed. To love, the doors of hysteria, fantasy, and madness may be flung open. ~ Anton Szandor LaVey

There are many who would like my time. I shun them. There are some who share my time. I am entertained by them. There are precious few who contribute to my time. I cherish them. ~ Anton Szandor LaVey

When a Satanist commits a wrong, he realizes that is it natural to make a mistake―and if he is truly sorry about what he has done, he will learn from it and take care not to do the same thing again. If he is not honestly sorry about what he has done, and knows he will do the same thing over and over, he has no business confessing and asking forgiveness in the first place. ~ Anton Szandor LaVey

How could you set yourself up as the most powerful institution on earth? You first find out what every man feels at least once a day, establish that as a sin, and set yourself up as the only institution capable of pardoning that sin. ~ Anton Szandor LaVey

Satanism condones any type of sexual activity which properly satisfies your individual desires- be it heterosexual, homosexual, bisexual, or even asexual, if you choose. Satanism also sanctions any fetish or deviation which will enhance your sex-life, so long as it involves no one who does not wish to be involved. ~ Anton Szandor LaVey

If you do not believe in what your religion teaches, why continue to support a belief which is contradictory with your feelings. You would never vote for a person or issue you did not believe in, so why cast your ecclesiastical vote for a religion which is not consistent with your convictions? You have no right to complain about a political situation you have voted for or supported in any way- which includes sitting back and complacently agreeing with neighbors who approve the situation, just because you are too lazy or cowardly to speak your mind. ~ Anton Szandor LaVey

This powerful force which permeates and balances the universe is far too impersonal to care about the happiness or misery of flesh-and-blood creatures on this ball of dirt upon which we live. ~ Anton Szandor LaVey

It became rather embarrassing after awhile. I'd step off the plane and there they'd be, all huddled together to meet me in their black velvet robes with huge Baphomets around their necks. Many of our grass-roots people didn't know much about subtlety then, or decorum. I was trying to present a cultured, mannered image and their idea of protest or shock was to wear their 'lodge regalia' into the nearest Denny's. ~ Anton Szandor LaVey

Thrice cursed are the weak whose insecurity makes them vile, for they shall serve and suffer. ~ Anton Szandor LaVey

I probably won't play a song the same way tomorrow as I play it today. Only a pitchman says the same thing the same way twice, without varying a word. If music is a language, why don't people use it with the same subtlety, nuance, and facility as they do the spoken language? Probably because they don't verbalize with the same vocabulary and tone they once did. It has been said that a people's character is reflected in their music. Our culture is a perfect example. If people here walk around using one-syllable words with no color, no variety, no shading, how can we expect our musical language to be any different? It's like the emperor's new clothes – sure they can sit and make wild noises on their synthesizers and call it music – who questions? But ask them to pull up a chair and play 'Gal in Calico' or Temptation,' or even a straight dramatic version of 'The Star-Spangled Banner' and they can't do it. They're too pretentious. They can't just play songs. ~ Anton Szandor LaVey

When walking in open territory, bother no one. If someone bothers you, ask him to stop. If he does not stop, destroy him. ~ Anton Szandor LaVey

Satanism advocates practicing a modified form of the Golden Rule. Our interpretation of this rule is: "Do unto others as they do unto you"; because if you "Do unto others as you would have them do unto you," and they, in turn, treat you badly, it goes against human nature to continue to treat them with consideration. You should do unto others as you would have them do unto you, but if your courtesy is not returned, they should be treated with the wrath they deserve. ~ Anton Szandor LaVey

I never met a person who loved everybody I didn't dislike. ~ Anton Szandor LaVey

Those that would say Satanist would like to kill animal's, sacrifice animals I would say they would make ideal animal sacrifices, I love animals and animals have always been part of me. ~ Anton Szandor LaVey

Love is one of the most intense feelings felt by man; another is hate. Forcing yourself to feel indiscriminate love is very unnatural. If you try to love everyone you only lessen your feelings for those who deserve your love. Repressed hatred can lead to many physical and emotional aliments. By learning to release your hatred towards those who deserve it, you cleanse yourself of these malignant emotions and need not take your pent-up hatred out on your loved ones. ~ Anton Szandor LaVey

When one sleeps on the floor one need not worry about falling out of bed. ~ Anton Szandor LaVey

Anyone without a sense of humor is too pretentious to be a good magician. ~ Anton Szandor LaVey

Intrinsically evil people are often hypocrites who make a show of their Goodguy Badge; without an enemy to plague them they could never in any believable sense become Good. This ~ Anton Szandor LaVey

A Satanist practices the motto, If a man smite thee on one cheek, smash him on the other! Let no wrong go unredressed. ~ Anton Szandor LaVey

There are television sets in every home, every restaurant, every hotel room, every shopping mall-now they're even small enough to carry in your pocket like electronic rosaries. It is an unquestioned part of everyday life. Kneeling before the cathode ray God, with our TV Guide concordance in hand, we maintain the illusion of choice by flipping channels (chapters and verses). It doesn't matter what is flashing on the screen-all that's important is that the TV stays on. ~ Anton Szandor LaVey

I visualize the day that tridents and pentagrams are thrust into the sky from church roofs instead of crosses. ~ Anton Szandor LaVey

Satan has certainly been the best friend the church has ever had, as he has kept it in business all these years. The false doctrine of Hell and the Devil has allowed the Protestant and Catholic Churches to flourish far too long. Without a devil to point their fingers at, religionists of the right hand path would have nothing with which to threaten their followers. "Satan leads you to temptation"; "Satan is the prince of evil"; "Satan is vicious, cruel, brutal," they warn. "If you give in to the temptations of the devil, you will surely suffer eternal damnation and roast in Hell."
The semantic meaning of Satan is the "adversary" or "opposition" or the "accuser." The very word "devil" comes from the Indian devi which means "god." Satan represents opposition to all religions which serve to frustrate and condemn man for his natural instincts. He has been given an evil role simply because he represents the carnal, earthly, and mundane aspects of life. ~ Anton Szandor LaVey

When other people ask me, 'What gives you the right to suggest standards for others?', my answer is, 'If I don't, someone else, perhaps less qualified, will. ~ Anton Szandor LaVey

The ecclesiastical description of Hell is that of a horrible place of fire and torment; in Dante's Inferno, and in northern climes, it was thought to be an icy cold region, a giant refrigerator. ~ Anton Szandor LaVey

Be as a lion in the path. Be dangerous even in defeat. ~ Anton Szandor LaVey

It's not a crime to wish for other worlds. You'll get taxed for it but they can't throw you in jail for creating your own private world…yet. Dramatics are fun, an indulgence. 'You can't go backward,' 'You can't live in the past,' they tell you. Why not? 'You've got to put all that behind you and move on to other things,' they say. Bullshit! These are all expressions of modern disposability. It's a mediocritizing technique - trying to get rid of what I call 'past orthodoxies.' It's our past that makes us unique, therefore it's our past that economic interests want to rob from us, so they can sell us a new, improved future. Society now depends on a disposable world - out with the old, in with the new, including relationships. But how we weep and wish we could hold onto those cherished moments forever, to those long-whispered dreams, those tortured nights - how we want to grasp them and stop them from sifting through our fingers. I say, 'Don't let it happen. Keep things the way you want them and let the rest of the world be duped. ~ Anton Szandor LaVey

So long as a man knows the meaning of fear, he will need the ways and means to defend himself against that fear. ~ Anton Szandor LaVey

The chief duty of every new age is to upraise new men to determine its liberties, to lead it towards material success- to rend the rusty padlocks and chains of dead custom that always prevent healthy expansion. Theories and ideas that may have meant life and hope and freedom for our ancestors may now mean destruction, slavery, and dishonor to us! ~ Anton Szandor LaVey

Satanism demands study, not worship! ~ Anton Szandor LaVey

I visualize a day when tridents and pentagrams are thrust into the sky from church roofs instead of crosses. I have a legacy to fulfill, and it will be fulfilled. ~ Anton Szandor LaVey

If real Satanism were allowed the kind of television time that Christianity has now, the kind of drawing out and patience that interviewers give sports figures, or the kind of coverage that a baseball game gets, Christianity would be completely eliminated in a few short months. If people were allowed to see the complete, unbiased truth, even for 60 minutes, it would be too dangerous. There would be no comparison. ~ Anton Szandor LaVey

The fun-raising adjunct to many church bazaars is commonly known as a carnival, which used to mean the celebration of the flesh; now a carnival is okay because the money goes to the church so that it can preach against the temptations of the Devil! It will be said that these things are only pagan devices and ceremonies- that the Christians borrowed them. True, but the Pagans reveled in the delights of the flesh, and were condemned by the very same people who celebrate their rituals, but call them by different names. ~ Anton Szandor LaVey

With all the debates about whether or not God is dead, if he isn't he had better have Medicare! ~ Anton Szandor LaVey

Before none of your printed idols do I bend in acquiescence, and he who saith thou shalt to me is my mortal foe! ~ Anton Szandor LaVey

We are so inculcated with guilt that we think that weakness is a sin or that it is some crime against nature to be submissive. ~ Anton Szandor LaVey

Even suicide has become less repugnant to many people than any number of other sins. Religion is totally to blame for this. ~ Anton Szandor LaVey

Do unto others as they do unto you. ~ Anton Szandor LaVey

Anyone who says "we must try to understand" those who make life miserable for those undeserving of misery is abiding and abetting a social cancer! ~ Anton Szandor LaVey

Life is the great indulgence - death the great abstinence. Therefore, make the most of life here and now! ~ Anton Szandor LaVey

I consider that a most ignoble endeavor. The only way I would like to 'help' the great majority of people is the same way Carl Panzram 'reformed' people who tried to reform him. It would be most merciful to help them by relieving them of the life they seem to hate so much. People should be happy I'm not a humanitarian-or I'd probably be the most diabolical mass murderer the world has ever known. ~ Anton Szandor LaVey

Don't waste your time with people who will ultimately destroy you, but concentrate instead on those who will appreciate your responsibility to them, and, likewise, feel responsible to you. ~ Anton Szandor LaVey

Say unto thine own heart, 'I am mine own redeemer. ~ Anton Szandor LaVey

Blessed are the mighty-minded, for they shall ride the whirlwinds- Cursed are they who teach lies for truth and truth for lies, for they are an abomination! ~ Anton Szandor LaVey

Like LaVey, I had a also discovered what happens when you say something powerful that makes people think. They become afraid of you, and they neutralize your message by giving you a label that is not open to interpretation-- as a fascist, a devil worshipper or an advocate of rape and violence. ~ Marilyn Manson

Blessed are they who believe in what is best for them, for never shall their minds be terrorized. ~ Anton Szandor LaVey

Hair on a man's chest is thought to denote strength. The gorilla is the most powerful of bipeds and has hair on every place on his body except for his chest. ~ Anton Szandor LaVey

Hate your enemy with a whole heart, and if a man smite you on one cheek, SMASH him on the other! ~ Anton Szandor LaVey

I find greater companionship in inert figures, animals & speechless artifacts, for I can enjoy their presence & there is no psychic drain ~ Anton Szandor LaVey

When a puppy reaches maturity is becomes a dog; when ice melts it is called water; when twelve months have been used up, we get a new calendar with the proper chronological name; when "magic" becomes scientific fact we refer to it as medicine, astronomy, etc. When one name is no longer appropriate for a given thing it is only logical to change it to a new on which better fits the subject. Why, then, do we not follow suit in the area of religion? Why continue to call a religion the same name when the tenets of that religions no longer fit the original one? Or, if the religion does preach the same things that it always has, but its followers practice nearly none of its teachings, why do they continue to call themselves by the name given to followers of that religion? ~ Anton Szandor LaVey

You may be sure of appearing as good, safe, stay-at-home wife material, and he will have the utmost respect for you, as he would for a faithful cook, but he'll not respect you for the one most important asset every woman who has the wherewithal to employ it - you looks! Vanity not only keeps a woman young, but also gives her something to live for, and if you get saddled to a man who stifles this basic female urge, yet ogles its effects in other women, he could well be knocking years off your life. ~ Anton Szandor LaVey

Blessed are those that believe in what is best for them, for never shall their minds be terrorized- Cursed are the "lambs of God," for they shall be bled whiter than snow! ~ Anton Szandor LaVey

The truth alone has never set anyone free. It is only DOUBT which will bring about mental emancipation. Without the wonderful element of doubt, the doorway through which truth passes would be tightly shut, impervious to the strenuous poundings of a thousand Lucifer's. ~ Anton Szandor LaVey

It is certainly true that 'actions speak louder than words,' but words become as monuments to thoughts. ~ Anton Szandor LaVey

It's too bad that stupidity isn't painful. ~ Anton Szandor LaVey

Many of you already read my writings indicating that TV is the new god. There is a little thing I neglected to mention up until now, television is the major mainstream infiltration for the new satanic religion. ~ Anton Szandor LaVey

He feels a little better while watching the guy on TV or thinking of him. Still, he feels insignificant. He has a few heroes whom he sees on other TV shows: sports figures, a tough cop or a late-night talk show host. He lives vicariously through all of them. Unbeknownst ~ Anton Szandor LaVey

I dont crave companionship. It stands in my way. I live for pleasure. There are few persons who can give me as much pleasure as those acts I perform myself. I would rather create pleasure according to my own whim than be subjected to the whims of others. ~ Anton Szandor LaVey

Popular lies have ever been the most potent enemies of personal liberty. There is only one way to deal with them: Cut them out, to the very core, just as cancers. Exterminate them root and branch. Annihilate them, or they will us! ~ Anton Szandor LaVey

If a guest in your lair annoys you, treat him cruelly and without mercy. ~ Anton Szandor LaVey

The ideal woman to me would be the gun-toting moll. Someone who is true blue and ready to face the world. Open to ideas and suggestion, not stubborn and closed minded. ~ Anton Szandor LaVey

Up is down, pleasure is pain, darkness is light, slavery is freedom, madness is sanity ... ~ Anton Szandor LaVey

Satanism is not a white light religion; it is a religion of the flesh, the mundane, the carnal - all of which are ruled by Satan, the personification of the Left Hand Path. ~ Anton Szandor LaVey

There are many who would take my time. I shun them. ~ Anton Szandor LaVey

Satanism represents a form of controlled selfishness. ~ Anton Szandor LaVey

It is a terrifying thing when the animals laugh at the hunter. Take a tip from Harlequin and the Joker. If you imitate a fool well, you are not likely to be fooled by others. To be it bluntly, albeit unorginally: A fool who knows he is a fool is indeed a wise man. ~ Anton Szandor LaVey