Sociopath Quotes & Sayings

Now be a good little sociopath and shut the fuck up while you get taken in for medical treatment." In — J.R. Ward

How do you prevent a little sociopath from becoming a big, full-blown sociopath? Sit on him. — John Rosemond

Walter had never liked cats. They'd seemed to him the sociopaths of the pet world, a species domesticated as an evil necessary for the control of rodents and subsequently fetishized the way unhappy countries fetishize their militaries, saluting the uniforms of killers as cat owners stroke their animals' lovely fur and forgive their claws and fangs. He'd never seen anything in a cat's face but simpering incuriosity and self-interest; you only had to tease one with a mouse-toy to see where it's true heart lay ... cats were all about using people — Jonathan Franzen

While I don't think sociopaths have any sort of moral urge to do good things, I think they can and do act morally in the context of pursuing their own advantage. A good analogy would be a corporation. There are a lot of corporations that do things that you like, maybe even good things, like produce vaccines or electric cars, although the primary motivation is to make a profit. But just because you are trying to make a profit doesn't mean you can't do it by doing things you like, or that you are good at, or that comport with the way you see the world, or want the world to see you. — M.E. Thomas

Character is destiny. For the cronic do-gooder, the happy-go-lucky sociopath, the dysfunctional family, under the gun everyone diverts to who they are. We may hunger to map out a new course, but for most of us, the lines have been drawn since we were 5. — Mary McCormack

One out of twenty-three is a sociopath and that's 4 percent of the population, that's a lot of sociopaths. Anorexic's are 3 percent and everybody talks about them. — Lisa Scottoline

To the narcissistic sociopath, a sexual experience is not about sex; it's about having complete control over his victims. They satisfy their sick compulsions by preying on vulnerable victims who they feel can most easily be manipulated and are least likely to expose their crimes. Warren needed the FLDS even more than the rebel religion needed a leader. His specialized psychosis was dependent on a unique religious hook that just would not work in the general population. In the outside world, he would never have been able to convince anyone to take him seriously. But with the FLDS predilection for blind religious obedience and submission to authority, he had the willing, captive audience that he needed, like a scientist needs labs rats. — Sam Brower

Dr. Robert Hare, one of the foremost researchers on sociopathy, believes that a sociopath is four times more likely to be at the top of the corporate ladder than in the janitor's closet, due to the close match between the personality traits of sociopaths and the unusual demands of high-powered jobs. — M.E. Thomas

I'm an 'intelligent' sociopath. I don't have problems with drugs, I don't commit crimes, I don't take pleasure in hurting people, and I don't typically have relationship problems. I do have a complete lack of empathy. But I consider that an advantage, most of the time. Do I know the difference between right and wrong, and do I want to be good? Sure ... A peaceful and orderly world is a more comfortable world for me to live in. So do I avoid breaking the law because it's 'right'? No, I avoid breaking the law because it makes sense. — M.E. Thomas

You're certifiable, you do know that, yes?" Austin commented with a strange look.

"Well, coming from the school's resident sociopath, I take that as high praise."

"Don't make me get my pipe bombs."

Oh God, he was actually joking with me. I was in. In where, I had no idea, but I was definitely in somewhere. And he was smiling-- a real, non-adverb laced smile. And damn, he had dimples. I was doomed. So doomed. — Chris O'Guinn

I'm not a psychopath, I'm a fully functioning sociopath. Do your research. — Arthur Conan Doyle

Yes. Mind you, sociopaths experience many of the same needs we all do," Hetheridge continued. "They attend school, maintain jobs. I believe they can even love, in the way little children love - a combination of wanting and demanding. But sociopaths have no conscience, no innate sense of responsibility toward others. They cannot believe other people have separate lives beyond the sociopath's own needs and expectations. Sociopaths are incapable of empathy, though the more intelligent ones are frequently able to fake it. And that's the key. — Emma Jameson

And your excuse?' I asked.
'I'm a sociopath; I don't have to be nice,' Nicky said.
I gave him a look.
'You're mad at him.I can feel it; which means I really don't have to be nice to him.'
'I thought you were friends.'
'What part of sociopath didn't you understand?' he asked. — Laurell K. Hamilton

Last guy I was interested in turned out to be an incestuous necrophiliac," she said. "So no, not currently dating, and definitely not doing any more shopping in the 'sociopath' category — Mira Grant

Six months ago when she first came up with the idea to kill Wilson, back when she was living in Memphis, she'd started going to church again. Since she was spending so much time thinking about sinister things, the least she could do, she reasoned, was to think about God and his love twice a week at church so that she wouldn't become a total sociopath. And rather than kill other people who were stand-ins for the person she really wanted to kill, like serial killers did, she'd be kind and generous to others and hone in on the one who deserved to die. And her plan had worked extremely well. Since she'd started planning to kill Wilson, and then decided to destroy his family instead, she felt no animosity toward anyone but him. Almost none at all! — Elizabeth Stuckey-French

A sociopath will do anything to win. Anything. — Denzel Washington

The sociopaths - that's the real problem. The whole street demeanor is about pretending to be a sociopath as well so that the real ones can't find you. — Mat Johnson

Why are the cute ones always such sociopaths?"
"Win doesn't seem like so much of a sociopath," I replied without thinking.
"Oh, really? So, you think he's cute, do you? At least you're admitting it now."
I shook my head. Scarlet was incorrigible.
"Admitting it is the first step, Annie. — Gabrielle Zevin

This is why sociopaths cling on to people they have used. They do not like ending relationships, although they know they are hurting and ruining the other person. When a sociopath refuses to break up with a lover, it does not mean that he cannot live without the person or that he truly cares. His refusal to let go stems from his fear of losing control over the other person and the fear of being exposed. — Clarence T. Rivers

When you grow up as a girl, it is like there are faint chalk lines traced approximately three inches around your entire body at all times, drawn by society and often religion and family and particularly other women, who somehow feel invested in how you behave, as if your actions reflect directly on all womanhood. — M.E. Thomas

Please tell me there is coffee."
Aunt B grimaced. "They're already crazy. If I let them have coffee, they'd be bouncing off the walls. We have herbal tea,"
...
I needed to find Julie, find her mom, convince a sociopath to donate some blood for the good of mankind, and deal with a tentacled atrocity swaddled in cloth and his rabid mermaids. I needed coffee. — Ilona Andrews

You have psychopaths and sociopaths in charge. — Gerald Celente

I've come to learn that the determined and gifted and genuine sociopath has far more power to deceive than we realize. — Walter Kirn

There's another word for a charmer, a more accurate description.
Sociopath — Sasha Grey

I guess the verdict is in - I am not a sociopath. It's not effective or productive not to be nice. It would undermine the goals I want to achieve on any given day. — Whitney Cummings

I watched 60 Minutes ... and they showed this woman, she's in every kind of..thing like that. 'This woman', they say, 'she lost her first four children
died from malnutrition
and, now, she's afraid that her new six-month-old newborn twins will suffer the same fate' ... Who's going to step in and say ... 'kick her in the cunt 'til it doesn't work', 'that woman is a sociopath! that is a sick human being!' ... How much of a sociopath do you need to be? That is the slow ritual torture-murder of children, one after another! At what point does cause-and-effect not kick in? How many bulb-headed skeletons have to go stiff in your arms?! ... 'what? this one's not working ... oh, well let's try again', one after another. At what point do you not go 'I think this is bad'? ... How many kids are you going to fuckin' kill, lady? ... If you impregnate someone under those conditions, they should abort the parents! that's sick! — Doug Stanhope

I didn't think past the first step of anything, that was the key. I drank a Coke and didn't worry about how to recycle the can or about the acid puddling in my belly, acid so powerful it could strip clean a penny. We went to a dumb movie and I didn't worry about the offensive sexism or the lack of minorities in meaningful roles. I didn't even worry about anything that came next. Nothing had consequence, I was living in the moment, and I could feel myself getting shallower and dumber. But also happy. — Gillian Flynn

America ... loves the successful sociopath and thinks it's normal to dream of becoming like him. — Gary Indiana

I don't like disappointing people. Some would say that this is "codependent behavior", which I have discovered is a term that explains how most everyone acts all the time, unless one is a sociopath or a Russian computer that plays chess. — Amy Poehler

It appears that the picture of DID as the ongoing clash of polarized personality types (e.g., good girl-bad girl, upright citizen-sociopath) is hard to sustain, although such clashes, when they occur, arrest attention and at times become a concern of the forensic psychiatrist. Most patients have personalities that are named, but there may be those who are nameless or whose appellations are not proper names (i.e.. "the slut," "rage," etc.).
Child personalities, those who retain long periods of continuous awareness, those who claim to know about all of the others, and depressed personalities are the most frequent types enumerated (Putnam et al.. 1986). — Richard P. Kluft

Beware the hospitality of the sociopath. — Don Winslow

If, instead, you find yourself often pitying someone who consistently hurts you or other people, and who actively campaigns for your sympathy, the chances are close to 100 percent that you are dealing with a sociopath. — Martha Stout

You say just, Ellis says flatly. There is no just with Edward Monkford. Nothing's more important to him than getting his own way. — J.P. Delaney

The Reverend grinned, his fangs flashing. "You know, I've heard this rumor ... about a member of the Brotherhood who's celibate. Yeah, go figure, a warrior who abstains. And I've heard a few other things about this male. He's down to one leg. Has a scarred sociopath for a twin. You wouldn't by any chance know of such a Brother?" Phury shook his head. "Nope. — J.R. Ward

I'll tell you something that was unusual, though. When most people are caught lying to the police, they cave in pretty quickly. Emma's response was to tell another lie. It might have been planted in her head by her brief, but even so that's not a common reaction. — J.P. Delaney

The closest term to sociopath is antisocial personality disorder. The criteria for diagnosis include impairments in self-esteem, self-direction, empathy, intimacy, plus the use of manipulation and deceit, and the presence of hostility, callousness, irresponsibility, impulsivity, and a lack of concern for one's limitations: risk-taking. — A.J. Rich

If you didn't understand the need for friendship or love, could you be lonely? — Laurell K. Hamilton

It takes many sheep to satisfy one wolf. — Nenia Campbell

I'm a sociopath, Mom, I don't love anybody. By definition.'
'Is that an implicit threat?'
'Oh, for the-! No, it was not a threat, Okay, I'm leaving. — Dan Wells

I can never remember the difference between a sociopath and a psychopath. But I do know the difference between me and most men. — Alison Ryan

I've read that one out of twenty-four people is a sociopath, and if you ask me, the other twenty-three of you should be worried. — Lisa Scottoline

Understanding did not provide solace or make the pain go away; in many ways, understanding was just more salt in the emotional wound. Ignorance allowed one to fight back with unfettered cruelty. Understanding inspired empathy, which led to guilt, as well as suffering.
She looked at Gavin, supine, unconcerned, contented, and thought that perhaps there was something to being a sociopath. If you didn't have a heart, it couldn't be broken. — Nenia Campbell

But he was one of those weak creatures, void of pride, timorous, anemic, hateful souls, full of shifty cunning, who face neither God nor man, who face not even themselves. — H.G.Wells

Anger, as long as it is controlled anger, is no obstacle to efficiency. Self-control is one thing the sociopath does not usually possess. Use yours to his undoing. — Jeff Cooper

I do think that with any kind of infidelity, on some level - unless you're dealing with a sociopath - there's always a reason. — Jessica Capshaw

I regularly comment on my desire to exploit my admirers or to kill babies and cute animals, and I don't even need to laugh or smile for people to think I am joking. — M.E. Thomas

There's an Iago and a Romeo within all of us. There is that lover, and there is that sociopath. — Tom Hiddleston

Indulge your inner sociopath. — Jenny Mollen

Dealing with a counter clerk at the phone company who had all the customer service skills of a homicidal sociopath on work release. — Jasmine Cresswell

From the Basement tapes
Eric outdid Dylan with the apologies. To the untrained eye, he seemed sincere. The psychologists on the case found Eric less convincing. They saw a psychopath. Classic. He even pulled the stunt of self-diagnosing to dismiss it. "I wish I was a fucking sociopath so I didn't have any remorse," Eric said. "But I do."
Watching that made Dr. Fuselier angry. Remorse meant a deep desire to correct a mistake. Eric hadn't done it yet. He excused his actions several times on the tapes. Fuselier was tough to rattle, but that got to him.
"Those are the most worthless apologies I've ever heard in my life," he said. It got more ludicrous later, when Eric willed some of his stuff to two buddies, "if you guys live."
"If you live?" Fuselier repeated. "They are going to go in there and quite possibly kill their friends. If they were the least bit sorry they would not do it! — Dave Cullen

He's just not that into you if he is a sociopath. — Coco J. Ginger

It's Lila
come on, Jack. She might be a little impulsive but that doesn't make her a sociopath.'
I swivelled my gaze to Jack, trying my best not to look like a sociopath. — Sarah Alderson

And sociopaths are noted especially for their shallowness of emotion, the hollow and transient nature of any affectionate feelings they may claim to have, a certain breathtaking callousness. They have no trace of empathy and no genuine interest in bonding emotionally with a mate. Once the surface charm is scraped off, their marriages are loveless, one-sided, and almost always short-term. If a marriage partner has any value to the sociopath, it is because the partner is viewed as a possession, one that the sociopath may feel angry to lose, but never sad or accountable. — Martha Stout

You take after your dad, a high-functioning sociopath with an incurable organic personality disorder. It's one of the special-sauce variety, the kind with a known genetic cause. Your uncle Albert was something different, and worse: He was a man of faith. — Charles Stross

A sociopath is just a label and doesn't encompass the entire being of a person. — Dan Gilroy

I have heard that we are spirits having a human experience. Perhaps those of us who have no conscience are dark spirits having a human experience. — P.A. Speers

The word of a sociopath is fluid, at best. — Sara King

The only reasonable goal in life is maximizing your total lifetime experience of something called happiness. That might sound selfish, but it's not. Only a sociopath or a hermit can find happiness through extreme selfishness. A normal person needs to treat others well in order to enjoy life. — Scott Adams

As I've gotten older, I have taught myself to act "normal." I can do it well enough to fool the average person for a whole evening, maybe longer. But it all falls apart if I hear something that elicits a strong emotional reaction from me that is different from what people expect. In an instant, in their eyes, I turn into the sociopathic killer I was believed to be forty years ago. — John Elder Robison

All of us have a bit of a sociopath inside of us, and it's wrong to think that somebody is just clearly sociopathic, because they're not. It's interesting to explore the shadings and nuances within a person. Those feelings exist within more human beings than people may want to acknowledge. — Dan Gilroy

I did the David Cronenberg film, A History of Violence, with Viggo Mortensen and I played a real sociopath. For the next seven years, I played the psycho-of-the-week. — Greg Bryk

So far as I can tell, 'good dragon' is just another name for coldblooded sociopath," he said. "No friends, no trust, no love. Why would I ever want to live like that? It's not like any of you good dragons are happy. — Rachel Aaron

Life itself was hard enough without monosynaptic sociopaths preying on folks. — Michael A. Stackpole

Wow, I say, politely, but I don't feel it. I'm like a sociopath when it comes to expensive cars. I feel no emotion. — Jon Ronson

There's a fine line between broody and potential sociopath. Right now you're walking the line. — Cora Carmack

I started on the opening page of my own book.
'I am a cheating, weak-spined, women-fearing coward, and i am the hero of your story. Because the woman I cheated on - my wife, Amy Elliott Dunne - is a sociopath and a murderer.'
Yes. I'd read that. — Gillian Flynn

Allison's eyes dart between me and the knives. Yeah, lady, a couple of hours in jail and I've moved from destruction of property to sociopath. — Katie McGarry

I always enjoyed the meticulous planning of every kill and of course the large payday that follow. It all became an exuberant game, and I couldn't stop... — Mary Burton King

Sociopath" and "psycho" were two of the most common field diagnoses for my look and expression. I heard it all the time: "I've read about people like you. They have no expression because they have no feeling. Some of the worst murderers in history were sociopaths. — John Elder Robison

Do you think a sociopath cries to God as they die? Ironic that one counterfeit being would cry out to another for help, said Chiron. — C.J. Anderson

Good looking? Check. Brilliant? Check. Rich? Check. Possible sociopath? Double check. Great. I was dining with Ted Bundy. — Rachel Van Dyken

There's always something in it for the person who is allowing to be taken advantage of. - Psychotherapist David in Type 1 Sociopath — P.A. Speers

Sociopath is a word that has sort of become shorthand for psychopath and there's a distinct difference, it's interesting if you look it up. Sociopath if you look at the medical definition, the profile of a sociopath is that they are supremely intelligent people that are also pathological liars, they have no moral structure and there is one more, they have no compassion or empathy for other people. — Cillian Murphy

He took the risk and his people had died. He blamed himself. It didn't reflect in his face, but I saw it in his eyes for a brief moment, before they went back to their icy blue. The last time we talked, I was almost completely convinced that he was a sociopath. He seemed invulnerable, as if nothing could bother him. This did. — Ilona Andrews

I'm a sociopath. I look normal, but I'm not. I'm smarter, better, and freer, because I'm not bound by rules, law, emotion or regard for you. — Lisa Scottoline

I used to be a nice, normal, borderline sociopath. — Stylo Fantome

Okay, dumbass. Perspective time," Gordon muttered as he ripped the greasy bag open. He would force himself to eat. He was not going to become an obsessed basketcase. He wasn't.

"First of all," he said, yanking the utensil drawer open." He is capable of murdering a huge juicer in the middle of the street and then disappearing with the body within seconds."

He removed one of the cartons and shoved his fork into the mound of noodles. "Two, he is probably a sociopath. Three, he thinks I'm a complete ballsack of a moron. — Santino Hassell

There is endless psychological research on evil people. But in my experience the average sociopath has no idea they are wrong. They're born this way, not made. — Kate Moretti

I went through the usual stages: imp, rascal, scalawag, whippersnapper. And, of course, after that it's just a small step to full-blown sociopath. — George Carlin

If you do not have a close friendship with your children, I will.--Child Molester warning all parents from the book Type 1 Sociopath — P.A. Speers

My team - an actor, a drunk, and a sociopath - didn't exactly inspire confidence. — Veronica Rossi

Narcissism, detachment, schizoid personality, sociopath - these things run rampant in the human race in varying degrees. — C.C. Hunter

You know what they call a sociopath with a conscience?"
It sounded like the setup to a joke so Elle took the bait. "No, what do they call a sociopath with a conscience?"
"They call her 'Mistress'. — Tiffany Reisz

I'm not a sociopath or a freak (although I don't suppose people who are sociopaths or freaks self-identify as such); I just don't enjoy being with people. People, at least in my experience, rarely say anything interesting to each other. They always talk about their lives and they don't have very interesting lives. So I get impatient. For some reason I think you should only say something if it's interesting or absolutely has to be said. — Peter Cameron

[T]he truth is you don't need some external demon to take control of you to turn you into a raging, money-obsessed sociopath, you only need to let loose the demons you already have inside of you. — Jay-Z

He had never regarded other men as anything but puppets of a sort, created to fill up an empty world. He divided them into two classes: those he greeted because some chance had put him in contact with them, and those he did not greet. But both these categories of individuals were equally insignificant in his eyes.
("An Old Man") — Guy De Maupassant

A sociopath doesn't warm up their environment, doesn't make it cozy. They don't have to; when they're not performing, when they're not manipulating, when they're all alone, there's nothing. — Walter Kirn

Trust me," I said, "from one sociopath to another: if you don't understand the reason for something, it's always love." He — Dan Wells

Anybody who claims to be excited for April Fools' Day is probably a sociopath. — John Oliver

He realized, even if she didn't, that John possessed great
wisdom as well as great power. Sometimes, making a real human connection was more effective than the power of persuasion and the threats of a sociopath put together. And that was totally awesome. — Natasha Larry

People are attracted to the sociopath's exceptionalism like moths to a flame. — M.E. Thomas

You'd think a sociopath assassin wouldn't have a fan following but he does. — Laurell K. Hamilton

I like to call everyone that I find slightly annoying a 'sociopath.' — Bo Burnham

I hate alcoholics and AA (alcoholics anonymous). If you can't drink responsibly, don't drink at all. Don't go to meetings, whine about your character flaws and blame the fact that you are a sociopath on booze. — Roseanne Barr

How did he close off that part of his brain that tells someone they've harmed another soul?...Most frighteningly of all, are some of us born with no conscience at all? — Dan Skinner

Sociopath was really just a politically correct way to say "the devil". — Jack Pendarvis

That figures," said Mom, stepping in from the landing and closing the door. "The only member of this family with a normal relationship is a sociopath. — Dan Wells

There's a book called "The Sociopath Next Door." I thought most sociopaths were violent. In fact, they aren't. But almost all sociopaths want to win, no matter what. — Denzel Washington

Be greedy when others are fearful and fearful when others are greedy.' Easier said than done for the vast majority of stock traders ... On every stock trade there is someone who wants to sell and someone who wants to buy, at least at a particular price ... the person who is selling thinks that she is getting out just in time while the person buying thinks that he is about to make good money.
... The truth is that the market doesn't really reflect some magical perfect valuation of a stock under the efficient market hypothesis. It reflects the mass consensus of how actual individual investors value the stock. It is the sum total of everyone's hopes and fears ... — M.E. Thomas

Years later, I learned an English word for the creature that Assef was, a word for which a good Farsi equivalent does not exist: sociopath. — Khaled Hosseini