Top 10 Psychopath and Antisocial Quotes
The top 10 are still being chosen, which will then be included in a weekly best quote vote.
This page will consist of ten when it is completed.
Dr. David McDermott, Definition of Psychopath and What It All Means
I first learned this when I was still a graduate student in psychology and had the opportunity to interview a court-referred patient the system had already identified as a "psychopath." He was not violent, preferring instead to swindle people out of their money with elaborate investment scams. Intrigued by this individual and what could possibly motivate him - I was young enough to think he was a rare sort of person - I asked, "What is important to you in your life? What do you want more than anything else?" I thought he might say "getting money," or "staying out of jail," which were the activities to which he devoted most of his time. Instead, without a moment's hesitation, he replied, "Oh, that's easy. What I like better than anything else is when people feel sorry for me. The thing I really want more than anything else out of life is people's pity." Martha Stout, Ph.D, The Sociopath Next Door
More than admiration-more even than fear-pity for good people is carte blanche. When we pity, we are, at least for the moment, defenseless, and like so many of the essentially positive human characteristics that bind us together in groups - social and professional roles, sexual bonds, regard for the compassionate and the creative, respect for our leaders - our emotional vulnerability when we pity is used against us by those who have no conscience. Most of us would agree that giving special dispensation to someone who is incapable of feeling guilt is a bad idea, but often, when an individual presents himself as pathetic, we do so nonetheless.
Pity and sympathy are forces for good when they are reactions to deserving people who have fallen on misfortune. But when these sentiments are wrested out of us by the undeserving, by people whose behavior is consistently antisocial, this is a sure sign that something is wrong, a potentially useful danger signal that we often overlook. Martha Stout, PhD, The Sociopath Next Door
This page will consist of ten when it is completed.
No inner policeman
Imagine if you never felt guilt, or embarrassment, or remorse for anything you did, ever! And there is no emotional attachment to other people and their emotions have no effect on you. In other words, you have no "conscience", no inner policeman telling you what you should and should not do. And never any regrets either.
What could you do? More importantly, what could you not do? The range of possibilities is endless. You would just go for what you want, regardless of anybody else. You would take what you want, treat people the way you want, manipulate them or abuse them simply for the sake of dominating them.
Dr. David McDermott, Definition of Psychopath and What It All Means
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| Interview with a Psychopath Quote by Martha Stout, Ph.D |
I first learned this when I was still a graduate student in psychology and had the opportunity to interview a court-referred patient the system had already identified as a "psychopath." He was not violent, preferring instead to swindle people out of their money with elaborate investment scams. Intrigued by this individual and what could possibly motivate him - I was young enough to think he was a rare sort of person - I asked, "What is important to you in your life? What do you want more than anything else?" I thought he might say "getting money," or "staying out of jail," which were the activities to which he devoted most of his time. Instead, without a moment's hesitation, he replied, "Oh, that's easy. What I like better than anything else is when people feel sorry for me. The thing I really want more than anything else out of life is people's pity." Martha Stout, Ph.D, The Sociopath Next Door
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| Manipulation with Pity and Sympathy |
More than admiration-more even than fear-pity for good people is carte blanche. When we pity, we are, at least for the moment, defenseless, and like so many of the essentially positive human characteristics that bind us together in groups - social and professional roles, sexual bonds, regard for the compassionate and the creative, respect for our leaders - our emotional vulnerability when we pity is used against us by those who have no conscience. Most of us would agree that giving special dispensation to someone who is incapable of feeling guilt is a bad idea, but often, when an individual presents himself as pathetic, we do so nonetheless.
Pity and sympathy are forces for good when they are reactions to deserving people who have fallen on misfortune. But when these sentiments are wrested out of us by the undeserving, by people whose behavior is consistently antisocial, this is a sure sign that something is wrong, a potentially useful danger signal that we often overlook. Martha Stout, PhD, The Sociopath Next Door
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