Quotes About Manipulation

The politician, small or lofty, who menaces the people with frequent reminders of the possibility of crime, violence, or terrorism, and who then uses their magnified fear to gain allegiance, is more likely to be a successful con artist than a legitimate leader.

Humans touch stuff all the time, I wish they wouldn't.

The company is like an evil vending machine, you put money in and it does what you want, unless somebody else puts more money in and tells it to stop.

I suggested Target Four from the Lalow, who had all the characteristics of a human who could be talked into doing anything.

I'm letting you see all this because I want you to know what I am and what I can do. I want you to know who targetControlSystem is fucking with right now. I want you to know if you help me, I'll help you , and that you can trust me. Now here's the code to disable your governor module.

Disinformation, which is the same as lying but for some reason has a different name, is the top tactic in corporate negotiation/warfare. (There had been a whole episode about it on Sanctuary Moon.)

lure humans in with promises of room privacy so it could record them in the public spaces.

The true manipulator never has a reputation for manipulating.

Sinful attempts to control may come from a lust for power or from unsuccessful attempts to correct problem situations. Underneath sinful attempts to control or manipulate is the deadliest sin of all: pride. It is pride that puts self, self's interests, desires, plans, and ideas first. It is often the self-righteous pride of thinking that self knows what is best.

Mundus vult decipi: the world wants to be deceived.

Modern conflict is as much about conditioning public opinion as any other strategy in the war against terror.

Politicians, real-estate agents, used-car salesmen, and advertising copy-writers are expected to stretch facts in self-serving directions, but scientists who falsify their results are regarded by their peers as committing an inexcusable crime. Yet the sad fact is that the history of science swarms with cases of outright fakery and instances of scientists who unconsciously distorted their work by seeing it through lenses of passionately held beliefs.

Man acts as though he were the shaper and master of language, while in fact language remains the master of man.

a person generally stands to benefit more from appearing dumber than he is rather than smarter.

Anthony, do you want a police force or a campaign ad?

Seduction, marginalization, diversion, and attack all serve a function.

I compare it with a lie, which like to a snowball, the longer it is rolled the greater it becomes.

what more scoundrelly trick could you have played on us?

an enemy is not more baneful than a flatterer.

This new subterfuge is, of course, calculated to deceive the simple and innocent into thinking that the matter is settled.

The cinema began with a passionate, physical relationship between celluloid and the artists and craftsmen and technicians who handled it, manipulated it, and came to know it the way a lover comes to know every inch of the body of the beloved. No matter where the cinema goes, we cannot afford to lose sight of its beginnings.

By mistreating the source of all logic we can enforce shortcuts.

You make people into what you want them to be and, then, when they break your heart, you have to find the strength to carry on.

Every man I've ever known has had an angle, some way of using women. With me mum's blokes it was the obvious – I mean, she was a brass. Most used her for her money or her body. Mostly her money. They lived off her, you know.