The ‘Worst Man in the World’ Tells the Astounding Story of His Life in Articles by Aleister Crowley.

“But I am a white magician, not a black one. I belong to a secret order which has representatives all over the world; we are all working for the good of humanity, not for its downfall.” [via]

Consider also:

  1. “Nobody stops to look at me in the street. My appearance is, I suppose, that of a simple country gentleman up in town for a weekend. All my notoriety arises from the fact that I am a magician. I AM THE MASTER THERION. Practically my whole life has been spent in the study of magic.”
  2. “Suddenly all the ordinary ambitions of life seemed empty and worthless. Time crumbles all; I must find durable material for building. I sought desperately for help, for light. I raided every library and bookshop in the University.”
  3. “But the first call: 1896. In a Bierhalle under the shadow of the Matterhorn I met an alchemist. He is one of the best-known technical chemists in London. One of his scientific feats was the ‘fixing’ of mercury (i.e. the making of it solid at ordinary temperatures) and he had done this by the despised alchemical processes of the Middle Ages.”
  4. “Then one of the first principles of magic was revealed to me. It is sufficient to will with all one’s might that which one wills. You who read this–whatever you will you can do. It is only a question of commanding the means.”
  5. “‘What’s that?’ ‘The files about Aleister Crowley.’ ‘Goodness gracious me!’ ‘Of course, we haven’t got the last month’s stuff in yet. A bit congested.’ ‘Here, this has got to stop! We can’t put up new buildings every few weeks. Close the record!'”