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Aleister Crowley

Aleister Crowley Quotes

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Famous Aleister Crowley Quotes

“The Quest of the Holy Grail, the Search for the Stone of the Philosophers - by whatever name we choose to call the Great Work - is therefore endless. Success only opens up new avenues of brilliant possibility. Yea, verily, and Amen! the task is tireless and its joys without bounds; for the whole Universe, and all that in it is, what is it but the infinite playground of the Crowned and Conquering Child, of the insatiable, the innocent, the ever-rejoicing Heir of Space and Eternity, whose name is MAN?”

MenChildrenWholeJoySpiritualityUniverseNamesSpacePossibilityHolyStonesTasksEternityInfiniteBoundsPhilosopherBrilliantEndlessInnocentConquerRejoiceQuestsGreat WorkAvenuesHeirsAmenPlaygroundsInsatiableHoly Grail
Book:Little Essays Toward Truth
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“I believe in one secret and ineffable Lord; and in one Star in the Company of Stars of whose fire we are created, and to which we shall return; and in one Father of Life, Mystery of Mystery, in His name Chaos, the sole viceregent of the Sun upon the Earth; and in one Air the nourisher of all that breathes. And I believe in one Earth, the Mother of us all, and in one Womb wherein all men are begotten, and wherein they shall rest, Mystery of Mystery, in Her name Babalon.”

MenBelieveEarthMotherFatherNamesI BelieveStarsSecretCompanyLordSunFireAirMysteryReturnChaosI Believe InBreatheSoleWombIneffable
Author:Aleister Crowley
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“As soon as you put men together, they somehow sink, corporatively, below the level of the worst of the individuals composing it. Collect scholars on a club committee, or men of science on a jury; all their virtues vanish, and their vices pop out, reinforced by the self-confidence which the power of numbers is bound to bestow.”

MenSelfTogetherIndividualLevelsNumbersVirtueWorstBoundsVicesClubsPopsSelf ConfidenceScholarCommitteesJuryComposing
Author:Aleister Crowley
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“In every Magical, or similar system, it is invariably the first condition which the Aspirant must fulfill: he must once and for all and for ever put his family outside his magical circle.Even the Gospels insist clearly and weightily on this.Christ himself (i.e. whoever is meant by this name in this passage) callously disowns his mother and his brethren (Luke VIII, 19). And he repeatedly makes discipleship contingent on the total renunciation of all family ties. He would not even allow a man to attend his father's funeral!Is the magical tradition less rigid?Not on your life!”

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Author:Aleister Crowley
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“What is it in absinthe that makes it a separate cult? The effects of its abuse are totally distinct from those of other stimulants. Even in ruin and in degradation it remains a thing apart: its victims wear a ghastly aureole all their own, and in their peculiar hell yet gloat with a sinister perversion of pride that they are not as other men.”

MenHellEffectsPrideAbuseVictimRemainsRuinsPeculiarCultDegradationSinisterPerversionGhastlyStimulantsAbsinthe
Book:Absinthe: The Green Goddess
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“She knew that she belonged to this man, body and soul. Every trace of shame departed; it was burnt out by the fire that consumed her. She gave him a thousand opportunities; she fought to turn his words to serious things. He baffled her with his shallow smile and ready tongue, that twisted all topics to triviality. By six o'clock she was morally on her knees before him; she was imploring him to stay to dinner with her. He refused.”

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Author:Aleister Crowley
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“Roughly speaking, any man with energy and enthusiasm ought to be able to bring at least a dozen others round to his opinion in the course of a year no matter how absurd that opinion might be. We see every day in politics, in business, in social life, large masses of people brought to embrace the most revolutionary ideas, sometimes within a few days. It is all a question of getting hold of them in the right way and working on their weak points.”

PeopleMenWayYearsIdeasSometimesMatterMightAbleCoursesEnergySocialOpinionOughtMassWeakEmbraceRoundsAbsurdEnthusiasmRevolutionaryDozenRight WayPersuasionRebelliousSocial LifeRevolutionary IdeasWeak PointsEnergy And Enthusiasm
Author:Aleister Crowley
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“I admit that my visions can never mean to other men as much as they do to me. I do not regret this. All I ask is that my results should convince seekers after truth that there is beyond doubt something worth while seeking, attainable by methods more or less like mine. I do not want to father a flock, to be the fetish of fools and fanatics, or the founder of a faith whose followers are content to echo my opinions. I want each man to cut his own way through the jungle.”

MenWayWantShouldMeanAsksFatherResultsVisionOpinionDoubtCuttingMinesRegretFoolMethodSeekingConvinceFollowersFoundersEchoesJungleSeekersFanaticsFlocksFetishThelema
Author:Aleister Crowley
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“Fortunately we have learnt to combine these ideas, not in the mutual toleration of sub-contraries, but in the affirmation of contraries, that transcending of the laws of intellect which is madness in the ordinary man, genius in the Overman who hath arrived to strike off more fetters from our understanding.”

MenIdeasLawUnderstandingGeniusOrdinaryMadnessIntellectStrikesContraryMutualAffirmationIntriguingOrdinary ManTolerationFettersTranscending
Book:777 revised: vel, Prolegomena symbolica ad systemam sceptico-mysticae viae explicandae, fundamentum hieroglyphicum sanctissimorum scientiae summae
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“The Devil' is, historically, the God of any people that one personally dislikes... This serpent, SATAN, is not the enemy of Man, but He who made Gods of our race, knowing Good and Evil; He bade 'Know Thyself!' and taught Initiation. He is 'The Devil' of the Book of Thoth, and His emblem is BAPHOMET, the Androgyne who is the hieroglyph of arcane perfection... He is therefore Life, and Love.”

PeopleKnowsMenMadeBookEvilRaceEnemyKnowingTaughtDevilPerfectionAnd LoveSatanGood And EvilDislikeLife And LoveThyselfKnow ThyselfSerpentInitiationEmblemsArcane
Book:Magick: In Theory and Practice
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“To me a book is a message from the gods to mankind; or, if not, should never be published at all. A message from the gods should be delivered at once. It is damnably blasphemous to talk about the autumn season and so on. How dare the author or publisher demand a price for doing his duty, the highest and most honorable to which a man can be called?”

IfsMenShouldBookMankindDutyDemandMessagesHighestSeasonsDareAutumnHonorablePublishersAutumn Season
Author:Aleister Crowley
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“If one had to worry about one's actions in respect of other people's ideas, one might as well be buried alive in an antheap or married to an ambitious violinist. Whether that man is the prime minister, modifying his opinions to catch votes, or a bourgeois in terror lest some harmless act should be misunderstood and outrage some petty convention, that man is an inferior man and I do not want to have anything to do with him any more than I want to eat canned salmon.”

PeopleIfsMenWantShouldWellsIdeasMightActionOpinionWorryAliveMarriedVoteTerrorMinistersPrimeBuriedConventionsAmbitiousInferiorsPrime MinisterPettyMisunderstoodOutrageBourgeoisSalmonViolinistModifying
Author:Aleister Crowley
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