Walter Kirn Quotes

I'm Machiavelli's offspring, I'm the king of New York, king of the coast, one hand, I juggle them both.

Politics. The art of governing mankind by deceiving them.

Talleyrand is a silk stocking filled with mud.

A sociopath will do anything to win. Anything.

Psychopaths are social predators, and like all predators, they are looking for feeding grounds. Wherever you get power, prestige and money, you will find them.

Tactics are manipulative.

Johnny 'Fairplay' Dalton manufactured a lie about his dear grandmother dying in order to win a challenge. This is one of the best villain moments of 'Survivor' ever! This lie was pre-planned, evil, and perfectly played out.

Maniacal self-promoter …. Makes Machiavelli look like a simple, straightforward kinda guy.

Those in possession of absolute power can not only prophesize and make their prophecies come true, but they can also lie and make their lies come true.

Power is seductive.

My momma was slick as greased lightning. She knew how to get anybody and everybody to do whatever she wanted 'em to do.

I'm very good at manipulation.

There's a lot of false prophets around and that's the trouble. People say they think they know what's right and other people get people to follow them because they have a certain type of charisma, and there's always people willing to take over. People want a leader. And there will be more and more of them.

At least she had a clear picture of what the Lying Game was now: Girl Scouts for psychopaths.

Intelligence can be used to manipulate.

tyranny and injustice always produce cunning and falsehood.

Power is not sufficient evidence of truth.

Power and position often make a man trifle with the truth.

He's really sort of the devil. He's completely emotionally detached. He has no empathy. You find that in psychopaths. It's about power with Voldemort. It's an aphrodisiac for him. Power makes him feel alive.

The appalling reality in American politics today is that, when ideology and money mix, truth is a mere inconvenience.

When it comes to controlling human beings, there is no better instrument than lies. Because you see, humans live by beliefs. And beliefs can be manipulated. The power to manipulate beliefs is the only thing that counts.

Yes, I know I've played these women, but I'm not really conniving at all.

A man of such obvious and exemplary charm must be a liar.

The magician and the politician have much in common: they both have to draw our attention away from what they are really doing.

Tricks and treachery are the practice of fools, that don't have brains enough to be honest.