Anton Szandor LaVey Quotes & Sayings

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 reason a person viciously strikes out against you is because they are afraid of you or what you represent, or are resentful of your happiness. — 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

In this arid wilderness of steel and stone I raise up my voice that you may hear. To the East and to the West I beckon. To the North and to the South I show a sign proclaiming: Death to the weakling, wealth to the strong! — Anton Szandor LaVey

Satanists are encouraged to indulge in the seven deadly sins, as they need hurt no one; they were only invented by the Christian Church to insure guilt on the part of its followers. — 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

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

I request reason for your golden rule and ask the why and wherefore of your ten commandments. — 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

Be as a lion in the path. Be dangerous even in defeat. — 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

But the average person doesnt have that much imagination. They just want to be entertained. They want to have the tableau presented for them. They dont want to participate beyond a certain point. They want the safety of the herd, to be catered to, sit back and enjoy. — Anton Szandor LaVey

I never met a person who loved everybody I didn't dislike. — 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

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

It's too bad that stupidity isn't painful. — 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

I don't drink much anymore, because it's supposedly not good for me. I still have gallons of it around though. I smell the cork and do a lot of wishing. — Anton Szandor LaVey

I have proven many times over that the "painted hussy" will steal the show from the more "tasteful" girls. Many years ago, I had my witches
wearing false eyelashes with heavy eye make-up, ** and though they were always criticized by other women as looking "artificial," they got all the attention from the men. When a man sees a make-up job that is blatantly and obviously make-up, he is automatically flattered, because he knows that the woman is trying to look sexy. Men like to see a sexy -looking woman and it pleases a man to think that a woman is knocking herself out trying to please him — Anton Szandor LaVey

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

Good news is only really good to those directly involved. Most people lead such futile and useless lives that only bad news makes them feel better. If not better, certainly gooder. If one cannot gain recognition for anything else, he can rest well with the assurance that he is "good", which in most case equates with "right". — 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

A major determining factor by which a superior human can be isolated from his average counterparts is his very isolation - the degree to which he naturally removes himself from mass-media input and stimuli. You cannot be an elitist, a Magician, and be plugged into the system. — Anton Szandor LaVey

Satanism has been frequently misrepresented as "devil worship", when in fact it constitutes a clear rejection of all forms of worship as a desirable component of the personality. — Anton Szandor LaVey

I give people Ayn Rand with trappings, — 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

On Saturday night, I would see men lusting after half-naked girls dancing at the carnival, and on Sunday morning when I was playing organ for tent-show evangelists at the other end of the carnival lot, I would see these same men sitting in the pews with their wives and children, asking God to forgive them and purge them of carnal desires. And the next Saturday they'd be back at the carnival or some other place of indulgence. I knew then that the Christian church thrives on hypocrisy, and that man's carnal nature will out no matter how much it is purged or scoured by any white-light religion. — Anton Szandor LaVey

There is a beast in man that should be exercised, not exorcised. — Anton Szandor LaVey

The true test of anyone's worth as a living creature is how much he can utilize what he has. — Anton Szandor LaVey

Behold the crucifix; what does it symbolize? Pallid incompetence hanging on a tree. — Anton Szandor LaVey

In previous centuries, the Church was the great controller, dictating morality, stifling free expression and posing as conservator of all great art and music. Instead we have TV, doing just as good a job at dictating fashions, thoughts, attitudes, objectives as did the Church, using many of the same techniques but doing it so palatably that no one notices. Instead of 'sins' to keep people in line, we have fears of being judged unacceptable by our peers (by not wearing the right shoes, not drinking the right kind of beer, or wearing the wrong kind of deodorant). Coupled with that fear is imposed insecurity concerning our own identities. All answers and solutions to these fears come through the television, and only through television. Only through exposure to TV can the new sins of alienation and ostracism be absolved. — Anton Szandor LaVey

My parents were lenient. My mother believed God was another word for nature. I took up Satanism not out of desperation, but out of logic. I rebelled, not but because of a religious or repressive childhood. I wanted to join the French Foreign Legion. — Anton Szandor LaVey

After an inferior man has been taught a doctrine of superiority he will remain as inferior as he was before his lesson. He will merely assume himself to be superior, and attempt to employ his recently-learned tactics against his own kind, whom he will then consider his inferiors. With each inferior man enjoying what he considers his unique role, the entire bunch will be reduced to a pack of strutting, foppish, self-centered monkeys gamboling about on an island of ignorance. There they will play their games under the supervision of their keeper, who was and always will be a superior man. — 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 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

It is certainly true that 'actions speak louder than words,' but words become as monuments to thoughts. — 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

When ghettos become the mainstream of society, islands of individuality cannot help but harbor an elite. — 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

Heaven must be populated with some rather strange creatures if all they lived for was to go to a place where they can strum harps for eternity. — 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

depressing. I asked myself: 'Where is God?' I came to detest the sanctimonious attitude of people toward violence, always saying 'it's God's will'. — 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

The person who takes every opportunity to "pick on" others is often mistakenly called "sadistic". In reality, this person is a misdirected masochist who is working towards his own destruction. The reason a person viciously strikes out against you is because they are afraid of you or what you represent, or are resentful of your happiness. They are weak, insecure, and on extremely shaky ground when you throw your curse, and they make ideal human sacrifices. — Anton Szandor LaVey

Pride is great up to the point you begin to throw out the baby with the bathwater. The rule of Satanism is: if it works for you, great. When it stops working for you, when you've painted yourself into a corner and the only way out is to say, I'm sorry, I made a mistake, I wish we could compromise somehow, then do it. — Anton Szandor LaVey

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

It is one thing to accept something intellectually, but to accept the same thing emotionally is an entirely different matter.
The one thing psychiatry cannot fill is man's inherent need for emotionalizing through dogma. Man needs ceremony and ritual, fantasy and enchantment. Psychiatry, despite all the good it has done, has robbed man of wonder and fantasy which religion, in the past, has provided. — Anton Szandor LaVey

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

Definition of Good and Evil: Good is what you like. Evil is what you don't like. — 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

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

It has been said, 'the truth will make men free.' The truth alone has never made anyone free. It is only doubt which will bring mental emancipation. — Anton Szandor LaVey

ALL religions of a spiritual nature are inventions of man. He has created an entire system of gods with nothing more than his carnal brain. Just because he has an ego, and cannot accept it, he has to externalize it into some great spiritual device which he calls God. — Anton Szandor LaVey

The sexually over-aggressive man can be collected easily by the naturally dominant woman, who can accumulate an entire slave camp simply by allowing herself to appear on the scene wearing the accoutrements of the "push-over" as bait. — Anton Szandor LaVey

Satanism represents kindness to those who deserve it instead of love wasted on ingrates! — 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

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

If one cannot gain recognition for
anything else, he can rest well with the assurance that he is "good," which in most cases equates with "right". Were it not for an evil to rail against he might just as well never have been born. Yes, evil is the great savior and sustainer of those who
condemn it most. — Anton Szandor LaVey

I thought, acted, and thereupon found myself removed. — Anton Szandor LaVey

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

There is no heaven of glory bright, and no hell where sinners roast. Here and now is our day of torment! Here and now is our day of joy! Here and now is our opportunity! Choose ye this day, this hour, for no redeemer liveth! — Anton Szandor LaVey

A friend of mine who was a founding father of the Church of Satan, who later I compared notes with, said when he was a kid, he too managed to get into Sallys Nude Ranch, and in the corral he saw his Sunday school teacher!!! That was a real epiphany for him. From that moment on he was a Satanist. — Anton Szandor LaVey

The first time I read the Protocols of the Elders of Zion, my instinctive reaction was, so what's wrong with THAT? Isn't that the way any master plan should work? Doesn't the public deserve - nay, demand - such despotism? — 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

Even with all their threats of eternal damnation and soul roasting, Christian missionaries have run across some who were not so quick to swallow their drivel. Pleasure and pain, like beauty, are in the eye of the beholder. So, when missionaries ventured to Alaska and warned the Eskimos of the horrors of Hell and the blazing lake of fire awaiting transgressors, they eagerly asked: "How do we get there?"! — 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

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

One of the keys to success is an unflinching belief that there are no rules. Anyone who's ever succeeded has gone on that premise; not buying established procedures, business or otherwise. The naysayers are inevitably left behind amid shouts of 'it cannot be done' and "should not be done'." — Anton Szandor LaVey

Satan represents indulgence, instead of abstinence! Satan represents vital existence, instead of spiritual pipe dreams! Satan represents undefiled wisdom, instead of hypocritical self-deceit! Satan represents all of the so-called sins, as they all lead to physical, mental, or emotional gratification! — 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

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

To the Maker the archetype, the self-sustainer, human interaction is usually a waste of the most precious thing in his vital existance: time. — Anton Szandor LaVey

I dip my forefinger in the watery blood of your impotent mad redeemer, and write over his thorn-torn brow: The true prince of evil- the king of the slaves! — Anton Szandor LaVey

Man prides himself on being the only animal who can modify his nature, yet when he chooses to do so he is called a phony. — 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

To be loved, feelings must be rationed. To love, the doors of hysteria, fantasy, and madness may be flung open. — 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

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

In order to perform the supernatural, you must first be able to accomplish the supernormal. — 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

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

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

Religions are easy to invent. Most traditional religions have little or nothing to do with reality, are dependent on obfuscation, interpretation, guilt, and unreasoning faith ... — Anton Szandor LaVey

Those who spell Magic with a K aren't. — Anton Szandor LaVey

I'm glad that Christian parents let their children worship the devil at least one night out of the year. — 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

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

Stupidity - The top of the list for Satanic Sins. The Cardinal Sin of Satanism. It's too bad that stupidity isn't painful. Ignorance is one thing, but our society thrives increasingly on stupidity. It depends on people going along with whatever they are told. The media promotes a cultivated stupidity as a posture that is not only acceptable but laudable. Satanists must learn to see through the tricks and cannot afford to be stupid. — Anton Szandor LaVey

Up is down, pleasure is pain, darkness is light, slavery is freedom, madness is sanity ... — 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

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

Self-deceit - It's in the "Nine Satanic Statements" but deserves to be repeated here. Another cardinal sin. We must not pay homage to any of the sacred cows presented to us, including the roles we are expected to play ourselves. The only time self-deceit should be entered into is when it's fun, and with awareness. But then, it's not self-deceit! — Anton Szandor LaVey

I feel that what is probably the greatest enemy of longevity is popularity, and most people die of popularity. — Anton Szandor LaVey

I knew then that the Christian Church thrives on hypocrisy, and that man's carnal nature will out! — 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

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

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

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

Explanation. LaVey's Satan is the spirit of progress, the inspirer of all great movements that contribute to the development of civilization and the advancement of mankind. He is the spirit of revolt that leads to freedom, the embodiment of all heresies that liberate. — Anton Szandor LaVey