Honestly becoming a Pagan has made me more aware of myself and nature. I don't think any one quote quite catches the essence of that but just being more aware of my spiritual understanding has made me a better person in thought.
But, before I officially walked a Pagan path, I started out as a Satanist. I still agree strongly with Anton LaVey, his Satanic Bible is surprisingly (for me at least) full of wisdom, despite the backlash of the religion in general. I think there are many things about his philosophy others can reflect on. My favorite quotes from him:
"Just because a Satanist admits he is capable of both love and hate, he is considered hateful. On the contrary, because he is able to give vent to his hatred through ritualized expression, he is far more capable of love -the deepest kind of love. By honestly recognizing and admitting to both the hate and love he feels, there is no confusing one emotion with the other. Without being able to experience one of these emotions, you cannot fully experience the other." (The Satanic Bible, Book of Lucifer, pg 65)
I like this quote because in my experience I found that expressing emotions, even indirectly, actually makes people able to function, without all that distraction of confused emotions tucked away deep inside. I have also found that experiencing greater hate isn't different from experiencing the greatest love. It just has negative consequences that the truest love doesn't hold. It also makes you more able to appreciate love.
"If you do something to make someone for whom you care happy, his happiness will give you a sense of gratification." (Book of Lucifer, pg 51)
This quote is important in many ways. LaVey established that Satanism is focused on the ego, and therefore is a form of "controlled selfishness." This doesn't mean narcissism; I know a few narcissistic types in my family and being interested in yourself doesn't make you a narcissist. It means you are more aware of yourself therefore you desire to become better, happiner and fulfilled. And the control implies that you can control when to not be seeking fortune for yourself. Happiness is something we all seek, doing good for others is more often than not a win-win situation. If we can be more charitable, the world will definitely be a happier place for everyone.
"When a Satanist commits a wrong, he realizes that it is natural to make a mistake - and if he is truely sorry about what he has done, he will learn from it and take care not to do the same thing again." (Book of Lucifer, pg 41)
Many people will do things they feel sorry for and not learn from it, and others seem to shun mistakes altogether. We are humans, which means it is natural to make mistakes, and the mistakes we suffer from are supposed to be lessons for us. I should also point out that in the same paragraph, LaVey points out that Christian people who are not sorry for sinning or doing taboos will often do the same thing over and over again. Because humans can be both rational and impulsive, it is important to educate ourselves on the consequences, and if we actually want to advoid consequence, be it religious, scientific or social, we should take care to choose with caution and careful thought. We can learn from the mistakes of others, or by the hard way.
I could quote more from both the Satanic Bible and LaVey's other books but I can't be here all day. Life is calling and I better answer.
