Quotes made by Marilyn Manson
Manson's Thoughts on Originality
The burden of originality is one that most people don't want to accept. They'd rather sit in front of the TV and let that tell them what they're supposed to like, what they're supposed to buy, and what they're supposed to laugh at. You have Beavis and Butt - Head telling you what music you're allowed to like and not like, and you've got sitcoms that have canned laughter that lets you know when to laugh if you're too stupid to know when the joke is - people are too lazy and too stupid to think for themselves because America has raised the like that."
"There are so many different levels of things you can say to people, and everyone's going to get something really different out of what I say, but the most I can hope for is for people to want to find some sort of truth, to be themselves, and to encourage them to think."
"We've always found that with people being so desensitized, things have to be really shocking and have to punch you in the face to get your attention. Then, once you've got their attention. You can say something they might remember."
"As with anything I do, I think everything is based on reactions and responses."
- Marilyn Manson
Fears and Society
•"Today there seems to be a lack of icons and rock stars in general. When we grew up there were KISS, Alice Cooper, David Bowie, Iggy Pop and Adam Ant - people who had something to say and had quite an impact on music and society. I thought that's what rock 'n' roll was all about in the least - too much make up, setting things on fire, pissing off parents - despite what you might have to say once you've got everyone's attention."
"So many people are afraid to enjoy life, they're too worried about thriving off their own suffering. They love to live in fear, whether its going to hell, the end of the world, AIDS, crime, whatever it's got to be, people love to be afraid. That's why they love to be afraid. That's why they love to watch the news, they love to look at car crashes, or they love to listen to Marilyn Manson. People want their fear, so in return. I give it to them."
" I fear being like everybody I hate, I fear failure, I fear losing control. I love balancing between chaos and control with everything I do. I always have a fear of going one way or the other, getting lost in something, or losing everything to get lost in... And I fear being a completely acceptable sheep in society."
"I'm tired of things being so wishy washy and nobody standing up and saying, 'OK, this is where we're going to go.' I just want to stand up and assert myself as the antichrist that America so fears. Instead of living in fear of something, I've decided to become that which everybody fears."
- Marilyn Manson
Fake or Reality?
"Marilyn Manson - I picked that as the fakest stage name of all to say that this is what show business is, fake. Marilyn Monroe wasn't even her real name, Charles Manson isn't his real name, and now, I'm taking that to be my real name. But what's real? You can't find the truth, you just pick the lie you like the best. As long as you know everything's a lie, you can't hurt yourself."
•"I speak in reality. I don't try and hide anything from anybody, and that's the most dangerous thing about our music that parents are so afraid of. It has nothing to do with any violent implications, or the sexual implications, its just the overall picture that I'm speaking of the world I see and not hiding anything from anybody."
- Marilyn Manson
Love and Hate
•"The opposite of love is apathy, and hate is really the same as love - IF you're so consumed by hatred for someone, you might as well be loving them, because you're thinking about them for the same amount of time."
- Marilyn Manson
Individuality
"You have something to learn from everybody. It's not to say that you have to like what those people have done, but at least respect them in a strange way because they had the motivation and power to attempt the things they did."
"A piece of paper or a piece of cloth doesn't mean anything. It's what you believe.And I want people to think about what they believe.I want them to consider if everything they've been taught, if that's what they want to believe or if that's what they've been told that they have to believe."
"We really represent individuality. Kid's should think for themselves. Not to be like your friends who think they are individuals, but to be like you. Not to be like us, but to be what you are."
"I love the idea of every man and woman being a star and that's what I try to relate to our fans. If anything, they use me as an inspiration for their own sucess. If they can see that someone as simple as me can do it, there's no reason they can't."
"I think the reaction we get toward our name is a great statement about America. I've rarely had people ask me about my interest in Marilyn Monroe, yet they always gravitate to the darker half."
"If I could just get them to WANT AN ANSWER, then they'll find it on their own. I don't have any answer for them. There is a distinct lack of leadership, idols, icons, and superstars for kids to identify with. When I was a kid there was a lot of people that I could look to or look up to and it just seems like there's not that anymore."
- Marilyn Manson
The Bible and the Antichrist
"I like it as a book.Just like I like "The Cat In The Hat."
"Lunchbox has always been my way of expressing the chip that has developed on my shoulder for being the little guy, for being the one the bigger kids always picked on."
"It's when you take away things that kids enjoy is when you cause problems for them, you know, people always think that heavy metal, or rock and roll has always been the source of the problem, but it's when you start to deprive them of that, it's
when they start to get bitter."
"Music that's alternative now for me is just stuff that people would despise listening to. I find myself listening to Lionel Richie and Dr. Hook." ...."Well, I don't think there's anything more evil than me and my band mates sitting around before a show,singing "Hello" by
Lionel Richie. I thinks that's the heart of darkness."
"I've actually never been a fan of porno. I really never watch it unless I'm stuck in a hotel and that's the only channel you get."
"Find out what's really out there. I never said to be like me, I say be like you and make a difference."
"People are very surprised to hear me say that a lot of my values are Christian values. I think that's part of my shock. I just don't like the way that Christianity combined with the influence of television has bred a nation of weakness. (Christian television do get the facts wrong sometimes and the image they portray turns most people off.)"
In responce to the question "What is Marilyn Manson's greatest flaw?" in an AOL chat:
"His inability to acknowledge and control his animal instincts."
"I don't want people to mis-conceive me as a spokesperson for the Church of Satan."
In responce to Metal Edge's question "What's your favorite item of clothing?":
"I have a stained medical jockstrap that I wear on stage, and it's my favorite item because not only does it provide a healthy support for my back and genitals, but it also looks good with brown pantyhose. Most people don't know, brown is the black of the '90s."
"I veiw my job as being someone who is supposed to piss people off. I don't want to be just one-of-the-guys. I don't want to be just a smiling face you see on television presenting some vapid kind of easily-digestible garbage.This is rock and roll. I want to be a rock and roll star! Rock and roll is about shaking things up, making people act and react. That's what I do."
"You do what I do because you want attention. I don't want to over-analyze what I do, but it probably is just a thinly-veiled cry for attention. I was just a kid-14 years old-when I first started putting on my mom's makeup and wearing Halloween masks in the summer. I knew I was different, but it was also my way of getting noticed. All this stuff I'm today is really no different-and no more harmful-than that. I just want the world to know I'm here."
"I don't want to veiw myself as some sort of taste maker. This isn't an act-this is me! I think that much of what I've done of the last few years has been grossly misinterpreted by those who can't get past the superficial aspects of the presentation. I want to at least hope there are some people out there that understand what this is all about. I push things to the limits and take so many chances because I understand that each and every day could be our last. Wouldn't you act differently right now if you knew that this could be the last day on earth? Well,I treat each and every day that way. The trick is to enjoy each and every day and squeeze every ounce that you can out of it-the is the true Marilyn Manson attitude."
"The lyrics and ideals expressed on this album{Antichrist Superstar} are those of a character called Antichrist Superstar. I potray this character as does everyone else in America. Those who fal to admit this are the ones who will be afraid and offended."
"This album {Antichrist Superstar} is far more experimental than Smells Like Children. I freed myself in many ways from any constictions of convention. There were to be no bounds, no limits to where we wanted to go with the music. Some people have complained that the songs are more depressing this time-well, that may be. But deal with it! My music is a reflection of my own personal reality, but I think it's a reality that a lot of people share. My anger is really on display throughout Antichrist Superstar, and maybe it's the anger of everyone else that needs to come out. Maybe I'm more healthy for this society than people want to admit."
"Well, the idea, I was writing a lot of lyrics five or six years ago and the name Marilyn Manson, I thought really describes everything that I had to say, you know, male and female, beauty and ugliness, and it was just very American. It was a statement on the American culture, the power that we give to icons like Marilyn Monroe and Charles Manson and since that's where it's always gone from there. It's about the paradox, uh, diametrically opposed archetypes."
- Marilyn Manson
Gacy's Thought on Love and Hate
"The opposite of love isn't hatred, its apathy. Love and hate are the same things; different sides of the same coin."
- Madonna Wayne Gacy
Twiggy's Thought on the Antichrist
"I think everything is gonna go out with a Bang. Whether that means the end of the world or the end of Marilyn Manson.The end of a lot of the world as Marilyn Manson sees it.It could mean the end of a lot of things.Christian America has already creasted and is already creating The Antichrist just by believing in the Bible.They are paving their own way to the end of the
world,which is very poetic.My hero's are TV evangelists.They're the smartest guys,because they have something to live for,whether it's a lie or not. Whatever,I mean I could belying as well.Everything is full of crap.What's real?What's fake?What makes sense? You could drive yourself crazy.I think once the end of the world does come,then we want to take everyone's
children.The next step will be to try to convert them back. We bounce back and forth between the extremities of good and evil and we end up most of the time in the gray area."
- Twiggy Ramirez
Twiggy's Vanity
"I am very vain and I wear dresses more often off than on-stage!!!"
- Twiggy Ramirez
Twiggy's Favorite Clothing
"My socks."
- Twiggy Ramirez
