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Jon Ronson

Jon Ronson Quotes

Journalist

Jon Ronson is a British journalist and writer known for his in-depth exploration of marginal cultures and psychology. His work often focuses on social phenomena, personal stories, and human behavior, delving into the complexities and universality behind them.

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All People Ifs Way Psychopath Trying Feels Kind Knows Writing Psychology

Famous Jon Ronson Quotes

“A strange thing happens when you interview a robot. You feel an urge to be profound: to ask profound questions. I suppose it’s an inter-species thing. Although if it is I wonder why I never try and be profound around my dog. ‘What does electricity taste like?’ I ask. ‘Like a planet around a star,’ Bina48 replies. Which is either extraordinary or meaningless - I’m not sure which”

“It is slightly chilling to realize there are rational, functional people up there employed to spot, nurture, and exploit those down here among us who are irrational and can barely cope. If you want to know how stupid you’re perceived to be by the people up there, count the unsolicited junk mail you receive. If you get a lot, you’re perceived to be alluringly stupid.”

People Ifs Knows Want Realizing Know How Stupid Rational Spots Mail Irrational Nurture Employed Chill Exploits Junk Junk Mail

Author:Jon Ronson

“Bedlam: an institution with a history so fearsome it gave its name to a synonym for chaos and pandemonium.”

Names Institutions Chaos Synonym Pandemonium

Author:Jon Ronson

“Trying to prove you’re not a psychopath is even harder than trying to prove you’re not mentally ill,’ said Tony.”

Trying Said Prove Harder Ill Psychopath Mentally Ill

Book:The Psychopath Test

Source: The Psychopath Test

“Corporate and political and religious psychopaths ruin economies. They ruin societies.”

Political Religious Economy Ruins Corporate Psychopath

Book:The Psychopath Test

Source: The Psychopath Test

“Capitalism, perhaps at its most remorseless, is a physical manifestation of psychopathy.”

Inspiration Motivation Capitalism Manifestation Remorseless

Author:Jon Ronson

“It is an awful lot harder, Tony told me, to convince people you're sane than it is to convince them you're crazy.”

People Crazy Harder Convince Sane

Author:Jon Ronson

“You can say anything to David Icke and he will accept it and put it into his ideology.”

Accepting Ideology Say Anything

Author:Jon Ronson

“Success is always less funny than failure.”

Author:Jon Ronson

“No, people back home don't realize why there is this kind of need for heroes in America at the moment. People in Britain don't really understand what's going on here. They don't understand why Camp X-ray exists.”

People Needs Kind Moments Home America Realizing Hero Britain Camps Rays Back Home

Author:Jon Ronson

“At first, I did stories on people who were maybe just eccentric. Omar was a natural progression from that.”

People Firsts Stories Natural Progression Eccentric Omar

Author:Jon Ronson

“But on the extremist side I didn't get any rejections at all. Everyone agreed to talk to me.”

Sides Rejection Extremist Talk To Me

Author:Jon Ronson

“Sometimes the personalities at the helm of the madness industry are, with their drives and obsessions, as mad in their own way as those they study. And that relatively ordinary people are, more and more, defined by their maddest edges.”

People Way Sometimes Study Personality Industry Ordinary Madness Mad Edges Obsession Defined Ordinary People Helm

Author:Jon Ronson

“The way I portrayed the people is accurate. Because they're human beings and we have a kind of wonderful capacity to be absurd and ridiculous.”

People Way Humans Kind Human Beings Wonderful Capacity Ridiculous Absurd Accurate

Author:Jon Ronson

“Ever since I learnt about confirmation bias I've started seeing it everywhere.”

Seeing Bias Confirmation

Author:Jon Ronson

“We have to understand how the extremists got the way they are. Without that kind of understanding, we'd never really get to know them. I put in nothing about their childhoods. But what I have put in is stuff about the weird symbiotic relationship between us and them.”

Knows Way Kind Stuff Understanding Relationship Childhood Extremist

Author:Jon Ronson

“Nothing uniquely bad has happened to me in my personal life, but all the regular little bad things have accumulated to make me a neurotic person. And these adventures are my way of trying to make sense of that.”

Way Trying Littles Persons Happened Adventure My Way Make Sense Bad Things Personal Life Neurotic

Author:Jon Ronson

“There's definitely evidence that capitalism at its most ruthless rewards psychopathic behavior. When you look at the worst corners of the American health insurance industry or the sub-prime banking market, it really feels like the more psychopathically someone behaves, the more it's rewarded.”

Feels Looks Worst Industry Behavior Evidence Capitalism Rewards Corners Behave Prime Banking Ruthless Psychopathic

Author:Jon Ronson

“I wasn't in any way a kind of soothsayer or not surprised when Sept. 11 happened. I was absolutely shocked.”

Way Kind Happened Shocked Sept 11

Author:Jon Ronson

“I'm not what you'd call a fearless type of person.”

Persons Type Fearless

Author:Jon Ronson

“My paranoia never ends, but I haven't been paranoid about being spied on my shadowy forces for some time now.”

Ends Force Havens Paranoia Paranoid

Author:Jon Ronson

“Obviously, I like to write stories that are page-turners. But I always try my very, very hardest to be as factually true as possible.”

Writing Trying Stories Pages Hardest Turner

Author:Jon Ronson

“Trying to solve the mystery is what I enjoy most about writing.”

Writing Trying Enjoy Mystery Solve

Author:Jon Ronson

“Discover the time of day when you write best, and write then. For me it's about 7 am to noon. For other people it's overnight. Try not to do anything other than write between those times.”

People Writing Trying Noon Time Of Day

Author:Jon Ronson

“I have thought sometimes that the sanest people, the people who are just very balanced, very happy, are probably lower achieving than other people. My kind of irrationality happens to be fear or anxiety.”

People Kind Sometimes Happens Achieve Anxiety Balanced Very Happy Irrationality

Author:Jon Ronson

“I think if somebody is so set in their ways about what they feel about something - and you get this a lot in academia, of course, and also different sorts of journalism too - you're going to sweep under the carpet the facts that don't suit your thesis. And I think that happens quite a lot in the courtroom, for instance.”

Ifs Thinking Way Feels Different Facts Happens Courses Instance Suits Journalism Carpet Academia Thesis Courtroom

Author:Jon Ronson

“Of course there are people who would like to eat breakfast without the screams of toddlers all around them, but those people should get over themselves and stop being stuck up and idiotic.”

People Should Courses Stuck Breakfast Scream Get Over Idiotic Toddler Stuck Up

Author:Jon Ronson

“Sometimes labeling is only useful, like with OCD. Once you're labeled you can be treated. On other occasions labeling leads to tyranny, like with childhood bipolar disorder in the U.S.”

Sometimes Childhood Tyranny Treated Occasions Disorder Bipolar Labeling Ocd Bipolar Disorder

Author:Jon Ronson

“Well, I had nightmares when I was doing the Klan story all the time. I had a recurring nightmare of basically being exposed as a Jew inside the Klan compound.”

Wells Stories Jew Nightmare Exposed Compounds Recurring

Author:Jon Ronson

About the Author

Born: May 10, 1967
Known for: Journalist
Quotes: 79

Related Topics

People Ifs Way Psychopath Trying Feels Kind Knows Writing Psychology

Popular Topics

People Ifs Thinking Knows Men World Way Want Love Life Inspirational Needs Giving Feels Should Writing Trying Years Mind Firsts

Books & Sources

So You've Been Publicly ShamedRelated source material

The Psychopath Test: A Journey Through the Madness IndustryRelated source material

The Psychopath TestRelated source material

Jon Ronson's Adventures With Extraordinary PeopleRelated source material

Lost At Sea: The Jon Ronson MysteriesRelated source material

The Men Who Stare at GoatsRelated source material

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