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Quotes from Aleister Crowley: The Nature of the Beast — Colin Wilson

1931–2013 England

← All quotes by Colin Wilson

4 quotes

Crowley wanted to be a magician because he wanted power -- power over other people.

Aleister Crowley: The Nature of the Beast (1987)

The main problem for the average reader -- particularly of The Great Beast -- is that Crowley seems such an intolerable show-off that it is hard to believe anything he says.

Aleister Crowley: The Nature of the Beast (1987)

The chief impression left by a study of Crowley's life and works is that he wasted an immense amount of time and energy trying to shock everyone he came into contact with, and his dislike of orthodoxy turned him into an unconsciously comic figure, like Don Quixote.

Aleister Crowley: The Nature of the Beast (1987)

The key to understanding Crowley is the same as the key to understanding the Marquis de Sade. Both wasted an immense amount of energy screaming defiance at the authority they resented so much, and lacked the insight to see that they were shaking their fists at an abstraction.

Aleister Crowley: The Nature of the Beast (1987)

Attribution

Quotes and notes from Wikiquote: Colin Wilson (page history), available under CC BY-SA 4.0.