I'm kind of shy, and I think that I take that out by performing in front of a lot of people. That's how I get out my shyness.
— Marilyn Manson
To admit you want to have a comeback means you have to admit you weren't what you were supposed to be. You dropped below your own standard.
I've started to think that maybe I wouldn't mind passing my demented genius on to some small thing who can set fire and breathe profanity.
Growing up going to Christian school and the concept that you're born a sinner and you don't really have a choice to change who you are has been hammered into my head and created the entire reason why I made art and made a band and made records called 'Antichrist Superstar.'
People only hate what they see in themselves.
The person who thinks I worship the devil and kill animals is just as important as someone who makes an interpretation that's closer to what I intended.
I fall in love very easily.
I went to one AA meeting and I got asked for an autograph.
Everything is acting.
Ultimately, because I'm an artist, I can't ever consider myself a nihilist, so I suppose I'm optimistic.
If one more 'journalist' makes a cavalier statement about me and my band, I will personally or with my fans' help, greet them at their home and discover just how much they believe in their freedom of speech.
I was married to someone who wanted me to change. Become more adult, more responsible. I began not to like myself, not like what I do. I lost my identity. Everything began collapsing around me.
Art gives me the freedom I don't have when I make music.
I've found a woman I can relate to. That's something - and I don't even feel sappy saying it - that, if anyone has that, don't lose it, because it's probably the only thing that you can ever really find any satisfaction from.
I used to have nightmares about the Antichrist - what would happen, where it would come from, and who it would be.
People tend to associate anyone who looks and behaves differently with illegal or immoral activity.
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.
I think everybody's got a presentation. Everybody looks a certain way because they want to convey a certain image. You look a certain way because you want people to listen to you in a certain way.
Leave me in a room with some crayons and I'll draw on the wall.
Living in Hollywood, it's easy to have someone flatter you. That doesn't help me.
There's no reason to change what you are, but if you're not being you, then you need to acknowledge that.
As a kid I just felt like an outsider.
Are people raised to be villains or vilified like I have become?
The advantage of the internet is that it has taken away the charade of politics. China has heard of democracy and people know about certain concepts they wouldn't have previously.
My dad loves what I do and I support my parents financially because they didn't have a job that gave them a pension.
I decided to make music again at a time when I couldn't have had more obstacles.
Things have become devalued to the point where people don't realize the repercussions, that they're devaluing themselves. It could end up bringing about chaos, a lawless situation.
I'm my most creative between 3 and 5 a.m. That's the way I've always been.
Rumors, stories... I'm used to them. I got my ribs removed, I was on 'The Wonder Years'... You know there's a different story every day.
My goal isn't to make money, it's to try and survive and make a point.
The time that people aren't expecting what's going to happen, I find that's the best time to really cause the damage that needs to be done.
My first memories of religion were being taken to Episcopal church. My father was Catholic, but my mother, I believe, was Episcopal. So I sort of veered off into the watered-down version of Catholicism.
This is the culture you're raising your kids in. Don't be surprised if it blows up in your face.
We live in a society of victimization, where people are much more comfortable being victimized than actually standing up for themselves.
I don't want to feel like I've matured. That's a stupid word that I never want to use.
What I know is my music gets blamed for school shootings.
In any story, the villain is the catalyst. The hero's not a person who will bend the rules or show the cracks in his armor. He's one-dimensional intentionally, but the villain is the person who owns up to what he is and stands by it.
Marilyn Manson is a mockery of American pop culture.
It's my job to be the Pierrot, the clown, in the theatrical sense.
I am drawn to women who are independent and creative, which is problematic because it's a struggle, a competition of careers. There's jealousy.
As a kid I had buck teeth and braces and acne. I hated what I saw. I'm still not comfortable, but that's why I change and adapt the way I look.
The point is that life for me is not going to be the way it is for everyone else. I have a fog machine and movie lights in my bedroom.
If what you do is being threatened as a profession, that could be scary. But that's the same reason why I walked out on stage many times after receiving death threats. I couldn't live without doing what I wanted to do. So at the same time I have to be willing to die for it.
I dare you all to write one more thing that you won't say to my face.
Marriage changes everything.
When I finish a picture I don't show it to anyone if I feel it's not good enough yet. I've learnt to listen to my partners and my friends. For me it's the biggest success if they like it.
I can't satisfy myself with just trying to tie all of my imagination into music, especially when music is not appreciated as an art form as much as it used to be.
To me, Satan ultimately represents rebellion.
Marilyn Manson is a criticism of gimmickry, while being itself a gimmick.
Music is the strongest form of magic.
