Maria Konnikova Quotes

I love con-men characters in film.

The con movie is a little bit different where maybe we tell you what we're going to do but it never goes down the way you expect because there's so much double-crossing and cheats and lies going on along the whole way.

This is very clever. They have created a system to cheat.

For the grifter, ripping people off is seldom the point. The grifter is an artiste who invests in the long con.

You set me up," I say. "One big con. You can't blame me because I turned out not to be gullible enough. You can't blame the mark. That's not how it works. Have some respect for the nature of the game.

Every swindle is driven by a desire for easy money; it's the one thing the swindler and the swindled have in common.

Great liars are also great magicians.

Hey, I fool the camera. I'm a liar, a magician.

I've always loved movies about con men. I think con men are as American as apple pie.

A successful swindler has to be a great salesman even more than a great actor.

There are some frauds so well conducted that it would be stupidity not to be deceived by them.

There's a lot of conning as part of our society, I think.

One of the things about the con artist lifestyle is that all the romance is sort of sloppy and fast and loose.

The best confidence artist makes us feel not as if we're being taken for a ride but as if we are genuinely wonderful human beings who are acting the way wonderful human beings act and getting what we deserve.

I know every trick in the book, in terms of schemes and fraud.

Three-card monte is one of the most persistent and effective cons in history. The games still pop up along city streets. But we tend to dismiss the victims as rubes.

I'm the type of guy who'd sell you a rat's asshole for a wedding ring.

She can’t help it. She loves the con. I tell myself I’m not like her, but I have to admit I love it too.

It was the heart of any scam or fiddle -- keep the punter uncertain, or, if he is certain, make him certain of the wrong thing.

So far I’m not seeing a lot of difference between me and a carnival con-man.

Life is a publicity stunt. A shill. You've been had.

Just like my Uncle Charlie used to say, just before he sprung the trap: He said, "You can't cheat and honest man! Never give a sucker an even break or smarten up a chump!

Then again, what are liars if not great magicians?

The world loves to be deceived.

The whole world is run on bluff.