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

“The first proof that I had of this miracle-working capacity which is latent in every man was this: even before I had issued the call for guidance there was a man at my side to answer it.” [via, also]

Consider also:

  1. “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.”
  2. “Foolish people say that I am a Black Magician, that I am in the habit of celebrating the Black Mass and the Witches’ Sabbath, that I eat new-born babes and explore the sky on a broomstick. They say that Satan is my master and that I am his faithful agent.”
  3. “All this ritual may strike the reader as being unnecessary. But its purpose is to stamp the injunctions indelibly on the memory, more upon deeper parts of the spiritual being of man than the superficial strata of the conscious mind.”
  4. “At school I had passions for poetry and chemistry. I had an instinct for chess; experience rapidly proved my ability. I never lost to anyone until–at Cambridge–I met H. E. Atkins, seven years running amateur champion of Britain.”
  5. “One book told me of a secret community of saints in possession of every spiritual grace, of the keys of the treasure of Nature. The members of this church lived their secret life of sanctuary in the world, radiating light and love on all those that came within their scope.”