Anton LaVey , the founder of the Church of Satan, directly lifted passages from the 19th century proto-fascist book Might Is Right by “Ragnar Redbeard” (Arthur Desmond) and did so extensively and without credit to produce a substantial part of LaVey’s most famous and popular work The Satanic Bible.

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This has been known for a very long while, although most Satanists tend not to be aware of just how shamelessly and thoroughly this work was done.

In fact, the Church of Satan sometimes tweets out passages from Might Is Right while supposedly praising LaVey.

To have quote LaVey here, the Church of Satan would have had to tweet just “on the other”.

This is not a stray, incidental unattributed line that LaVey could have argued his readers ought to have immediately been familiar with as a sort of homage. This was part of a wholesale, uncredited and unacknowledged ransacking of another person’s writing in order to create another, ostensibly-original book and sell it for profit.

For example, here is how much from one particular section of Might Is Right ended up making it into LaVey’s book:

This is what LaVey and his partner Diane Hegarty, who also served as his typist an editor, used to introduce people to The Satanic Bible in its opening section the “Book of Satan”. This isn’t in some appendix or footnote; this is the first thing people reading the book were shown.

The “Book of Satan” portion of The Satanic Bible is essentially identical to parallel lines in Might Is Right. If you strip out differences in punctuation(!) and Capitalization and compare them, it’s even more shameful: depending on how you want to count it, something like 85 percent of this opening can be identified as directly copied, which still includes Americanization of spellings, leaving words out from the original, and a handful of words substituted within much larger phrases and ideas that were retained fully intact.

Only two of the 53 statements of the “Book of Satan” appear to be original creations of LaVey and Hegarty: Book III No. 5 (Is not “lust and carnal desire” a more truthful term to describe “love” when applied to the continuance of the race? Is not the “love” of the fawning scriptures simply a euphemism for sexual activity, or was the “great teacher” a glorifier of eunuchs?) and Book V No. 13 (The angel of self-deceit is camped in the souls of the “righteous” – The eternal flame of power through joy dwelleth within the flesh of the Satanist!).

Now, the book does go on from there, it’s true. Again, depending which version of the book you’re using and how you’re counting, this “only” makes up somewhere between 4 – 7 percent of The Satanic Bible‘s total by page or character count.

But that’s actually a lot for a supposedly original book, especially while giving LaVey full credit for the “Enochian Keys” he includes as “my own translation” to make the last 10 percent or so of the book.

The defense by some LaVeyanists past and present that LaVey always openly acknowledged the influence of Might Is Right on his book is true only in the strictest and most literal sense of the word “acknowledge” given that he listed “Ragnar Redbeard, whose might is right” among 18 other people the book was “to” with no indication that he quoted from Redbeard so much more directly and extensively than anyone else he mentioned.

To:

Bernadino Logara, who knew the value of money
Karl Haushofer, a teacher without a classroom
Rasputin, who knew the magic of a child
Sir Basil Zaharoff, a gentleman
Cagliostro, a rogue
Barnabas Saul, the link with Mount Lalesh
Ragnar Redbeard, whose might is right
William Mortensen, who looked . . . and saw
Hans Brick, who knows the law
Max Reinhardt, a builder of dreams
Orrin Klapp, the walking man
Fritz Lang, who made moving blueprints
Friedrich Nietzsche, a realist
William Claude Dukinfield, who saved me a journey to Tibet
Phineas Taylor Barnum, another great guru
Hans Poéelzig, who knew all the angles
Reginald Marsh, a great artist
Wilhelm Reich, who knew more than cabinet-making
Mark Twain, a very brave man

Yeah, a person could can claim they’ve acknowledged what they did there copying someone, but obviously they just snuck it in and didn’t make straightforward indication of what they were pilfering because, in 1969, they figured a book out of print for more than half a century like Might Is Right wouldn’t get recognized in the time it took to complete their book deal and get paid.

(Note: the fact that LaVey looked at a book by a frothing bigot whose reasoning rested fundamentally on disgust for Jewish people, non-Anglo men, all women, and for anyone who believed in egalitarianism then LaVey said, “Hey, I could make a religion out of that!” ought to give people pause for different reasons, but we’ve written about that elsewhere and already.)

Considering all of the above and most people willing to grant that , “Yes, a lot of the most quotable passages credited to LaVey in his lifetime were lifted directed from a book originally published 70 years earlier”, why is there an asterisk(*) in the title? Because that wasn’t the law back then, obviously. What LaVey did was not technically plagiarism despite it being plagiarism for anyone to do the same thing now.

That is, if existing copyright law had existed at that time, The Satanic Bible would almost certainly have been sued out of existence and the Church of Satan with it for doing what LaVey did. Might Is Right was first published in 1896 and Arthur Desmond died in 1929, our present Disney-fied copyright law of “70 years after the death of the author or 95 years after publication” would’ve made it impossible to write for LaVey to write The Satanic Bible that way until 1991 (LaVey died in 1997). But LaVey was born before the House of Mouse had got its hooks into U.S. government and intellectual property law, lucky him.

In this context, the sanctity of The Satanic Bible and rejection of ILLEGALITY(!!!) as represented by Church of Satan members is even sillier. Their book literally exists thanks to public domain and not paying for shit, but the official COS stance on reading a PDF is still this:

SATANISM IS AGAINST FREELOADING: Satanism advocates “responsibility to the responsible”, reciprocity, and stratification. Many people these days seem to think that they’re entitled to anything they can get their hands on without having to work or pay for it. This is especially true with the Internet, with people thinking that if they can find something on-line then it must be free for the taking. Satanists are self-sufficient, not charity cases. Simply put, it makes no sense to expect a free copy of literature that condemns being a freeloader.

It seems obvious that people would still buy physical editions of The Satanic Bible and other works by LaVeyan Satanists to display in their bookshelves, for their altars, etc.

In our experience with Satanists of all stripes, Satanism is, more than anything, just an aesthetic people like to adopt in lieu of real rebellion or action, and the books sitting in full view in your living room or on Instagram are part of that. The Church of Satan would probably end up making even more money with an accessible text that sucked in more people and buying more of their other merch and publications, they just would also have to be doing new stuff people wanted in order to activate them some other way and have to deal with those new people.

And honestly, like a lot of things you enjoyed at the time but look back on and cringe, reading The Satanic Bible is never as good again as the first time when you were 14 years old and LaVey sounded really confident and smart. If more people didn’t stumble on LaVey until they were 32, the world would be a better place. (Or at least Satanism might be.)

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Comparison

Might Is Right (1927 edition)	The Satanic Bible	TSB’s Book of Satan
In this arid wilderness of steel and stone I raise up my voice that you may hear. To the East and to the West I beckon. To the North and to the South I show a sign — Proclaiming “Death to the weakling, wealth to the strong.”	In this arid wilderness of steel and stone I raise up my voice that you may hear. To the East and to the West I beckon. To the North and to the South I show a sign proclaiming: Death to the weakling, wealth to the strong!	Book I No. 1
Open your eyes that you may hear, O! men of mildewed minds and listen to me, ye laborious millions!	Open your eyes that you may see, Oh men of mildewed minds, and listen to me ye bewildered millions!	Book I No. 2
For I stand forth to challenge the wisdom of the world; to interrogate the “laws” of man and of “God.”	For I stand forth to challenge the wisdom of the world; to interrogate the “laws” of man and of “God”!	Book I No. 3
I request reasons for your Golden Rule and ask the why and wherefore of your Ten Commands.	I request reason for your golden rule and ask the why and wherefore of your ten commandments.	Book I No. 4
Before none of your printed idols do I bend in acquiescence and he who saith “thou shalt” to me is my mortal foe.	Before none of your printed idols do I bend in acquiescence, and he who saith “thou shalt” to me is my mortal foe!	Book I No. 5
I dip my forefinger in the watery blood of your impotent mad-redeemer (your Divine Democrat — your Hebrew Madman) and write over his thorn-torn brow, “The true prince of Evil — the king of the Slaves!”	I dip my forefinger in the watery blood of your impotent mad redeemer, and write over his thorn-torn brow: The TRUE prince of evil – the king of slaves!	Book I No. 6
No hoary falsehood shall be a truth to me — no cult or dogma shall encramp my pen.	No hoary falsehood shall be a truth to me; no stifling dogma shall encramp my pen!	Book I No. 7
I break away from all conventions. Alone, untrammeled. I raise up in stern invasion the standard of Strong.	I break away from all conventions that do not lead to my earthly success and happiness.	Book I No. 8
I raise up in stern invasion the standard of Strong.	I raise up in stern invasion the standard of the strong!	Book I No. 9
I gaze into the glassy eye of your fearsome Jehovah, and pluck him by the beard — I uplift a broad-axe and split open his worm-eaten skull.	I gaze into the glassy eye of your fearsome Jehovah, and pluck him by the beard; I uplift a broad-axe, and split open his worm-eaten skull!	Book I No. 10
I blast out the ghastly contents of philosophic whited sepulchres and laugh with sardonic wrath.	I blast out the ghastly contents of philosophically whited sepulchers and laugh with sardonic wrath!	Book I No. 11
Behold the crucifix, what does it symbolize? Pallid incompetence hanging on a tree.	Behold the crucifix; what does it symbolize? Pallid incompetence hanging on a tree.	Book II No. 1
I deny all things! I question all things! [earlier passage] Then reaching up the festering and varnished facades of your haughtiest moral dogmas, I write thereon in letters of blazing scorn: — “Lo and behold, all this is fraud!”	I question all things. As I stand before the festering and varnished facades of your haughtiest moral dogmas, I write thereon in letters of blazing scorn: Lo and behold; all this is fraud!	Book II No. 2
And yet! And yet! — Gather around me O! ye death-defiant, and the earth itself shall be thine, to have and to hold.	Gather around me, Oh! ye death-defiant, and the earth itself shall be thine, to have and to hold!	Book II No. 3
Too long the dead hand has been permitted to sterilize living thought —	Too long the dead hand has been permitted to sterilize living thought!	Book II No. 4
— too long, right and wrong, good and evil, have been inverted by false prophets.	Too long right and wrong, good and evil have been inverted by false prophets!	Book II No. 5
In the days that are at hand, neither creed nor code must be accepted upon authority, human, superhuman or ‘divine.’ (Morality and conventionalism are for subordinates.) Religions and constitutions and all arbitrary principles, every mortal theorem, must be deliberately put to the question. No moral dogma must be taken for granted — no standard of measurement deified. There is nothing inherently sacred about moral codes. Like the wooden idols of long ago, they are all the work of human hands, and what man has made, man can destroy.	No creed must be accepted upon authority of a “divine” nature. Religions must be put to the question. No moral dogma must be taken for granted – no standard of measurement deified. There is nothing inherently sacred about moral codes. Like the wooden idols of long ago, they are the work of human hands, and what man has made, man can destroy!	Book II No. 6
He that is slow to believe anything and everything is of great understanding, for belief in one false principle, is the beginning of all unwisdom.	He that is slow to believe anything and everything is of great understanding, for belief in one false principle is the beginning of all unwisdom.	Book II No. 7
The chief duty of every new age is to up-raise new men to determine its liberties, to lead it towards material success — to rend (as it were) the rusty padlocks and chains of dead custom that always prevent healthy expansion. Theories and ideals and constitutions, that may have meant life and hope, and freedom, for our ancestors, may now mean destruction, slavery and dishonor to us.	The chief duty of every new age is to upraise new men to determine its liberties, to lead it towards material success – to rend the rusty padlocks and chains of dead custom that always prevent healthy expansion. Theories and ideas that may have meant life and hope and freedom for our ancestors may now mean destruction, slavery, and dishonor to us!	Book II No. 8
As environments change no human ideal standeth sure.	As environments change, no human ideal standeth sure!	Book II No. 9
Wherever, therefore, a lie has built unto itself a throne, let it be assailed without pity and without regret, for under the domination of a falsehood, no nation can permanently prosper.	Whenever, therefore, a lie has built unto itself a throne, let it be assailed without pity and without regret, for under the domination of an inconvenient falsehood, no one can prosper.	Book II No. 10
Let established sophisms be dethroned, rooted out, burnt and destroyed, for they are a standing menace to all true nobility of thought and action.	Let established sophisms be dethroned, rooted out, burnt and destroyed, for they are a standing menace to all true nobility of thought and action!	Book II No. 11
Whatever alleged “truth” is proven by results, to be but an empty fiction, let it be unceremoniously flung into the outer darkness, among the dead gods, dead empires, dead philosophies, and other useless lumber and wreckage.	Whatever alleged “truth” is proven by results to be but an empty fiction, let it be unceremoniously flung into the outer darkness, among the dead gods, dead empires, dead philosophies, and other useless lumber and wreckage!	Book II No. 12
The most dangerous of all enthroned lies is the holy, the sanctified, the privileged lie — the lie that “everybody” believes to be a model truth. It is the fruitful mother of all other popular errors and delusions. It is hydra-headed. It has a thousand roots. It is a social cancer.	The most dangerous of all enthroned lies is the holy, the sanctified, the privileged lie – the lie everyone believes to be a model truth. It is the fruitful mother of all other popular errors and delusions. It is a hydra-headed tree of unreason with a thousand roots. It is a social cancer!	Book II No. 13
The lie that is known to be a lie is half eradicated, but the lie that even intelligent persons regard as a sacred fact — the lie that has been inculcated around a mother’s knee — is more dangerous to contend against than a creeping pestilence.	The lie that is known to be a lie is half eradicated, but the lie that even intelligent persons accept as fact – the lie that has been inculcated in a little child at its mother’s knee – is more dangerous to contend against than a creeping pestilence!	Book II No. 14
Popular lies have ever been the most potent enemies of personal liberty. There is only one way to deal with them. Cut them out, to the very core, just as cancers are. Exterminate them root and branch, or they will surely eat us all up. We must annihilate them, or they will us.	Popular lies have ever been the most potent enemies of personal liberty. There is only one way to deal with them: Cut them out, to the very core, just as cancers. Exterminate them root and branch. Annihilate them, or they will us!	Book II No. 15
‘Love one another’ you say is the supreme law, but what power made it so? — Upon what rational authority does the Gospel of Love rest? — Is it even possible to practice, and what would result from its universal application to active affairs? Why should I not hate mine enemies, and hunt them down like the wild beasts that they are? Again I ask, why? If I ‘love’ them does that not place me at their mercy?	“Love one another” it has been said is the supreme law, but what power made it so? Upon what rational authority does the gospel of love rest? Why should I not hate mine enemies – if I “love” them does that not place me at their mercy?	Book III No. 1
Is it natural for enemies to ‘do good’ unto each other and, what is ‘good’?	Is it natural for enemies to do good unto each other – and WHAT IS GOOD?	Book III No. 2
Can the torn and bloody victim ‘love’ the blood-splashed jaws that rend it limb from limb?	Can the torn and bloody victim “love” the blood-splashed jaws that rend him limb from limb?	Book III No. 3
Are we not all predatory animals by instinct? If humans ceased wholly from preying upon each other, could they continue to exist?	Are we not all predatory animals by instinct? If humans ceased wholly from preying upon each other, could they continue to exist?	Book III No. 4
[not found]	Is not “lust and carnal desire” a more truthful term to describe “love” when applied to the continuance of the race? Is not the “love” of the fawning scriptures simply a euphemism for sexual activity, or was the “great teacher” a glorifier of eunuchs?	Book III No. 5
‘Love your enemies and do good to them that hate you and despitefully use you,’ is the despicable philosophy of the spaniel that rolls upon its back, when kicked.	Love your enemies and do good to them that hate and use you – is this not the despicable philosophy of the spaniel that rolls upon its back when kicked?	Book III No. 6
But hate your enemies with a whole heart, and if a man smite you on one cheek, smash him down; smite him hip and thigh, for self-preservation is the highest law.	Hate your enemies with a whole heart, and if a man smite you on one cheek, SMASH him on the other!; smite him hip and thigh, for self-preservation is the highest law!	Book III No. 7
He who turns the ‘other cheek’ is a cowardly dog — a Christian dog.	He who turns the other cheek is a cowardly dog!	Book III No. 8
Give blow for blow, scorn for scorn, doom for doom, with compound interest liberally added thereunto. Eye for eye, tooth for tooth, aye four-fold, a hundredfold. Make yourself a Terror to your adversary and when he goeth his way, he will possess much additional wisdom to ruminate over. Thus shall you make yourself respected in all the walks of life, and your spirit — your immortal spirit — shall live, not in an intangible paradise, but in the brains and thews of your aggressive and unconquerable sons.	Give blow for blow, scorn for scorn, doom for doom – with compound interest liberally added thereunto! Eye for eye, tooth for tooth, aye four-fold, a hundred-fold! Make yourself a Terror to your adversary, and when he goeth his way, he will possess much additional wisdom to ruminate over. Thus shall you make yourself respected in all the walks of life, and your spirit – your immortal spirit – shall live, not in an intangible paradise, but in the brains and sinews of those whose respect you have gained.	Book III No. 9
Life itself is but a spark in the gloom that flashes out and disappears. Why therefore not make the most of it here and now — Here and Now!	Life is the great indulgence – death, the great abstinence. Therefore, make the most of life – HERE AND NOW!	Book IV No. 1
There is no “heaven of glory bright,” and no hell where sinners roast. There is no Right, there is no wrong — nor God — nor Son — nor Ghost. … Here and NOW is our day of torment! Here and NOW is our day of joy! Here and NOW is our Opportunity — to eat or to be eaten — to be lion or Lamb! Here and NOW it is war to the knife — no escape — no retreat. Choose ye this day, this hour, for no Redeemer liveth!	There is no heaven of glory bright, and no hell where sinners roast. Here and now is our day of torment! Here and now is our day of joy! Here and now is our opportunity! Choose ye this day, this hour, for no redeemer liveth!	Book IV No. 2
Say unto thine own heart and soul: “I, even I, am mine own redeemer.”	Say unto thine own heart, “I am mine own redeemer.”	Book IV No. 3
Raise up also the Clenched Hand and stop the way of them that would persecute you. … Let them be hurled back to confusion and infamy, who devise thine undoing. Let them be as chaff before the cyclone and let the Angel of Death pursue them, nay overtake them. In a pit, they have hidden a trap for thy feet: into that very destruction let them fall. Then, exultant, “sound the loud timbrel.” Rejoice! Rejoice! in thine own salvation.	Stop the way of them that would persecute you. Let those who devise thine undoing be hurled back to confusion and infamy. Let them be as chaff before the cyclone and after they have fallen rejoice in thine own salvation.	Book IV No. 4
Then all thy bones shall say pridefully “who is like unto me?” — Have I not delivered myself by mine own brain? Have I not been too strong for mine adversaries? — Have I not spoiled them that would have spoiled me.	Then all thy bones shall say pridefully, “Who is like unto me? Have I not been too strong for mine adversaries? Have I not delivered?	Book IV No. 5
Blessed are the Strong for they shall possess the earth — Cursed are the weak for they shall inherit the yoke.	Blessed are the strong, for they shall possess the earth – Cursed are the weak, for they shall inherit the yoke!	Book V No. 1
Blessed are the Powerful for they shall be reverenced among men — Cursed are the Feeble for they shall be blotted out.	Blessed are the powerful, for they shall be reverenced among men – Cursed are the feeble, for they shall be blotted out!	Book V No. 2
Blessed are the Bold for they shall be masters of the world — Cursed are the Humble for they shall be trodden under hoofs.	Blessed are the bold, for they shall be masters of the world – Cursed are the righteously humble, for they shall be trodden under cloven hoofs!	Book V No. 3
Blessed are the Victorious for victory is the basis of Right — Cursed are the vanquished for they shall be vassals for ever.	Blessed are the victorious, for victory is the basis of right – Cursed are the vanquished, for they shall be vassals forever!	Book V No. 4
Blessed are the iron-handed, the unfit shall flee before them — Cursed are the haters of battle, subjugation is their portion.	Blessed are the iron-handed, for the unfit shall flee before them – Cursed are the poor in spirit, for they shall be spat upon!	Book V No. 5
Blessed are the Death-defiant, their days shall be long in the land — Cursed are the Feeble-brained, for they shall perish amidst plenty.	Blessed are the death-defiant, for their days shall be long in the land – Cursed are the gazers toward a richer life beyond the grave, for they shall perish amidst plenty!	Book V No. 6
Blessed are the destroyers of False-hope, they are true Messiahs — Cursed are the God- adorers, they shall be as shorn sheep.	Blessed are the destroyers of false hope, for they are the true Messiahs – Cursed are the god-adorers, for they shall be shorn sheep!	Book V No. 7
Blessed are the Valiant for they shall obtain great treasure — Cursed are the believers in Good and Evil for they are frightened by shadows.	Blessed are the valiant, for they shall obtain great treasure – Cursed are the believers in good and evil, for they are frightened by shadows!	Book V No. 8
Blessed are they who believe in Nothing — never shall it terrorize their minds — Cursed are the ‘lambs of God,’ they shall be bled ‘whiter than snow’.	Blessed are those that believe in what is best for them, for never shall their minds be terrorized – Cursed are the “lambs of God”, for they shall be bled whiter than snow!	Book V No. 9
Blessed is the man who hath powerful enemies, they shall make him a hero — Cursed is he who “doeth good” unto others, he shall be despised.	Blessed is the man who has a sprinkling of enemies, for they shall make him a hero – Cursed is he who doeth good unto others who sneer upon him in return, for he shall be despised!	Book V No. 10
Blessed are the mighty-minded for they shall ride the whirl-winds — Cursed are they who teach Lies for Truth, and Truth for Lies, for they are — abomination.	Blessed are the mighty-minded, for they shall ride the whirlwinds – Cursed are they who teach lies for truth and truth for lies, for they are an abomination!	Book V No. 11
Thrice cursed are the Vile for they shall serve and suffer.	Thrice cursed are the weak whose insecurity makes them vile, for they shall serve and suffer!	Book V No. 12
[not found]	The angel of self-deceit is camped in the souls of the “righteous” – The eternal flame of power through joy dwelleth within the flesh of the Satanist!	Book V No. 13

To be clear, this is not the first time an analysis or comparison has been done, but between this article and The Satanic Wiki entry the table is taken from, hopefully it is more accessible now. A more dedicated person could probably track down which version of Might Is Right that LaVey and Hegarty were working off of here since Arthur Desmond produced multiple ones from 1896 to 1927, but that exceeded the patience and time of this project.

Former Church of Satan “council of nine” member Michael A. Aquino wrote The Satanic Bible‘s introduction for the editions that appeared between 1972 and 1976, and went on to found the theistic Satanist group “Temple of Set”, which was ultimately quite critical of LaVey and the Church of Satan. At some point, Aquino produced a comparison of his own between MIR and TSB. He did it like so:

The following extracts are verbatim from Might is Right, and have been arranged in the same order as in the “Book of Satan” section of the Satanic Bible. The items in brackets were added by Anton LaVey in the places indicated.

Having both versions side-by-side may make it harder to read than how Aquino chose to do it, but it does hopefully make it easier to compare.

Finally, if you’re looking for a more positive analysis of the “Book of Satan” and choices of addition and subtraction LaVey and Hegarty made in adapting it from Might Is Right, see Asbjørn Dyrendal, James R. Lewis, and Jesper Aagaard Petersen in their book The Invention of Satanism and chapter on “The Satanic Bible“. They also find evidence, contrary to Aquino’s claims, that the “Book of Satan” portion was not included late in production to pad out the final version by deadline (although they do admit the Enochian Keys stuff was probably a bit much).