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Quote by Martha Stout

“Sociopaths are just like everybody else in that some of them are really brilliant, some of them are really stupid, and most of them are somewhere in between.”

Author

Martha Stout

Martha Stout is an American psychologist known for her research on psychological manipulation and antisocial personality disorder. Born in 1953, she graduated from Harvard University with a Ph.D. in psychology. Dr. Stout's work delves into the complexities of human psychology, particularly the behavior patterns and psychological mechanisms of individuals who excel in psychological manipulation and deception. more

“Sociopaths are not usually physically violent. A typical sociopath never kills anybody and doesn't look like Charles Manson - they look like you and me and everybody else. You're not looking for someone who's recognizably evil or scary-looking, but rather someone who looks normal. Another lynchpin is dishonesty. Lying for the sake of lying. Lying just to see whether you can trick people. And sometimes telling larger lies to get larger effects.”

People Sometimes Lying Evil Like You Violent Dishonesty Sociopath Manson

Author:Martha Stout

“Sociopaths are often extremely charming. They are people who are better than you and me at charming people, at being charismatic. I've heard this more often than I can count: "He was the most charming man I ever met," or, "She was the sexiest woman I ever met," or, "The most interesting person I ever met . . ."”

People Men Interesting Charming Most Interesting Sociopath Charismatic Sexiest

Author:Martha Stout

“To learn to be charming is fairly easy - you can teach somebody to be charming and to learn human emotions - or to learn the behaviors that go with human emotions. A sociopath, a smart one, will study the way we emote, and will learn how to do that quite effectively.”

Easy Emotion Teach Study Behavior Smart Charming Sociopath

Author:Martha Stout

“The perfect victim, from the sociopath's point of view, is the person who is smart enough and capable enough to do him some good in the world and who is also fun to manipulate. How much fun is it to manipulate someone who is stupid and incompetent?”

World Enough Fun Perfect Stupid Capable Smart Victim Point Of View Manipulate

Author:Martha Stout