Quotes About Manipulation

And once you've got a man's self-image where you want it, he should comply naturally with a whole range of your requests that are consistent with this view of himself.

All the weapons of influence discussed in this book work better under some conditions than under others. If we are to defend ourselves adequately against any such weapon, it is vital that we know its optimal operating conditions in order to recognize when we are most vulnerable to its influence.

Notice that all of the foot-in-the-door experts seem to be excited about the same thing: You can use small commitments to manipulate a person's self-image; you can use them to turn citizens into "public servants," prospects into "customers," prisoners into "collaborators." And once you've got a man's self-image where you want it, he should comply naturally with a whole range of your requests that are consistent with this view of himself.

quienes hacen trampas por ti también te las harán a ti.

people who believe the game is rigged are easy prey for political demagogues with fast tongues and dumb ideas.

The biggest political divide in America today is not between Republicans and Democrats. It's between democracy and oligarchy. Hearing and using the same old labels prevents most people from noticing they're being shafted.

Moreover, people who believe the game is rigged are easy prey for political demagogues with fast tongues and dumb ideas.

Hitler was one of the shrewdest manipulators of the scapegoating mechanism. He brought the deeply divided German nation of the 1930s together precisely by assigning the Jews as a scapegoat for the country's economic, political, and cultural woes.

It is not so much by any power inherent in himself that the magician works, as by the ductility of that material of gaping credulity upon which he operates.

It is hard to resist a flatterer who gets it right.

What you discover about life's shell game is that it's hardest to follow the pea when you're the pea.

One human could simply withhold its feelings and intentions from another human by failing to audibilize or it could audibilize things that were not real. The other human would be aware only of what it heard and would change its behavior in response to a nonexistent stimulus. They called it 'lying.

If the world will be gulled, let it be gulled.

Does the mass give the leaders the program and its argumentation, or do the leaders give it to the mass?[163]

The technique called for drilling a small hole in the red lens of a prospective victim's taillight. Barely visible during the day, at night the opening emitted a brilliant white glow, making a car easier to identify and follow. Hector

There's very little that Idi Amin and Newt Gingrich have in common, but they both used words to shape how people think about things without regard for the truth.

Politicians play on our fears to manipulate us.

The person who is obviously angling for money or other material reward can only repel. If that is your intention, if you are looking for something other than pleasure—for money, for power—never show it. The suspicion of an ulterior motive is anti-seductive. Never let anything break the illusion.

In the work environment the stakes are suddenly raised. People are no longer struggling for good grades or social approval, but for survival. Under such pressure, they reveal qualities of their characters that they normally try to conceal. They manipulate, compete, and think of themselves first. We are blindsided by this behavior and our emotions are churned up even more than before, locking us into the Naïve Perspective.

it is hard to be angry or defensive with someone who seems to agree with your opinions and tastes. Charmers may appear to be weaker than their targets but in the end they are the more powerful side because they have stolen the ability to resist.

Remember, your own image and presence are materials you can control.

For a long time I have not said what I believed, nor do I ever believe what I say, and if indeed sometimes I do happen to tell the truth, I hide it among so many lies that it is hard to find. Niccolò Machiavelli, in a letter to Francesco Gnicciardini, May 17, 1521

I got very good on the telephone tricks too. Like calling up a company and find out that the plant was going to building a new addition and getting hold of the engineering office and getting the secretary to give me the direct extension.

what people cannot control, you can control for them.