BrainWeb Quotes

“He would become a career politician, the profession that attracted a higher percentage of fellow psychopaths than any other. And while there were a number of pathetic men and women who had chosen politics in a sincere effort to help others, on the whole, politicians were narcissistic backstabbers. Professional liars. Totally selfish and without conscience, most couldn’t care any less about others, although they could con anyone into believing they were the most compassionate people on Earth.”
― Douglas E. Richards, BrainWeb

“Politics, noun: [Poly ‘many’ + tics ‘blood-sucking parasites’]”             —Larry Hardiman”
― Douglas E. Richards, BrainWeb

“Any American who is prepared to run for president should automatically, by definition, be disqualified from ever doing so.”
― Douglas E. Richards, BrainWeb

“He would aim for the ultimate heights, as befitting someone of his superiority. He would become a career politician, the profession that attracted a higher percentage of fellow psychopaths than any other. And while there were a number of pathetic men and women who had chosen politics in a sincere effort to help others, on the whole, politicians were narcissistic backstabbers. Professional liars. Totally selfish and without conscience, most couldn’t care any less about others, although they could con anyone into believing they were the most compassionate people on Earth.”
― Douglas E. Richards, BrainWeb

“There was a range of severity, with precious few on the Hannibal Lecter end of the spectrum. But fully one percent of the population could be classified as psychopathic, based on a number of criteria. Psychopaths were absolutely selfish, and absolutely ruthless. They had no conscience, empathy, or remorse. They were devoid of real emotion, but could fake it to manipulate others. They were cold-blooded, fearless, and cool under pressure. But they were also often charming and charismatic. Smooth talkers who were never embarrassed or self-conscious. Brilliant liars, manipulators, and con artists. And they were chillingly sane. They knew right from wrong: they just didn’t care. Fisher’s favorite description was encapsulated in a single sentence: psychopaths are predators who see all others as prey, and who feel as much compassion for others as wolves feel for sheep.”
― Douglas E. Richards, BrainWeb

“He had known he was different from a very young age. He always seemed to know just how to get what he wanted. Other people, even his loving parents, meant nothing to him. They were just pawns, rubes, to be played as he saw fit. And he had always known the precise way to manipulate people to achieve his own ends. It was his genius. He could bully or charm with equal facility, and didn’t have a preference either way. He could construct elaborate webs of lies and deceit more effortlessly than other boys his age could construct buildings out of Legos.”
― Douglas E. Richards, BrainWeb

“Marc Fisher was a psychopath, plain and simple. And not only was he well aware of this fact, he celebrated it. And for good reason. Psychopaths were superior.”
― Douglas E. Richards, BrainWeb

“that human recall is poor and subject to error. SANDRA: Absolutely. And the advantages of having an external photographic memory are obvious. When my husband and I have different recollections, it would be great to be able to check the tape, as it were, to prove to him that I’m always right (smiling wryly). But the disadvantages are far greater. People will lose all faith in the accuracy of the memories they’ve accumulated before BrainWeb came along. They will quickly realize just how unreliable their memory really is. And baggage can hang around forever. Ill-advised words can be dredged up again and again, never forgotten. Every mistake potentially recorded for eternity. Most important, and most often discussed, is the complete lack of privacy. This has always been a major issue in the Internet and digital camera age, but BrainWeb amplifies this problem a thousand-fold.”
― Douglas E. Richards, BrainWeb

“Good to know. Because proposing while we’re both naked is pretty pathetic. Bad form.”
― Douglas E. Richards, BrainWeb

“A man does what he must—in spite of personal consequences, in spite of obstacles and dangers and pressures—and that is the basis of all human morality.” —Winston Churchill”
― Douglas E. Richards, BrainWeb

“Being inside Marc Fisher’s head was agony. The man had the outside appearance of a human being, but he was not. It was like taking a bite of a perfect, shiny apple to find nothing but squirming maggots inside. Hall”
― Douglas E. Richards, BrainWeb

“It is impossible to travel faster than the speed of light, and certainly not desirable, as one's hat keeps blowing off.”
― Douglas E. Richards, BrainWeb

“A man without ethics is a wild beast loosed upon this world. —Albert Camus”
― Douglas E. Richards, BrainWeb

“Megan Emerson sat on a concrete bench that snaked into a long semicircle, one of several that resembled the bleachers for half of a theater-in-the-round, with palm trees and water features at the center where a stage might have been. Bright, colorful shops of every kind flowed around and beyond these concentric semicircles of concrete like a meandering river, and Megan decided she had rarely been in a mall as tranquil and adorable as the Bella Terra Shopping Center in Huntington Beach, California.”
― Douglas E. Richards, BrainWeb

“Megan decided she had rarely been in a mall as tranquil and adorable as the Bella Terra Shopping Center in Huntington Beach, California.”
― Douglas E. Richards, BrainWeb

“Adversity is like a strong wind. It tears away from us all but the things that cannot be torn, so that we see ourselves as we really are.” ​—Arthur Golden”
― Douglas E. Richards, BrainWeb

“Democrats were seen as the party who really cared. Republicans the party of wealthy assholes.”
― Douglas E. Richards, BrainWeb

“Psychopaths were absolutely selfish, and absolutely ruthless. They had no conscience, empathy, or remorse. They were devoid of real emotion, but could fake it to manipulate others. They were cold-blooded, fearless, and cool under pressure. But they were also often charming and charismatic. Smooth talkers who were never embarrassed or self-conscious. Brilliant liars, manipulators, and con artists. And they were chillingly sane. They knew right from wrong: they just didn’t care. Fisher’s favorite description was encapsulated in a single sentence: psychopaths are predators who see all others as prey, and who feel as much compassion for others as wolves feel for sheep.”
― Douglas E. Richards, BrainWeb

“The pay gap is visceral. It feels wrong and unfair. Voters are already predisposed to think Republicans are uncaring, country-club pricks. So”
― Douglas E. Richards, BrainWeb

“Are you kidding?” said Girdler. “Politicians would sell their daughters to male prisons to hold on to power. As far as I’ve been able to tell, they’re the lowest form of life on the planet.” “Lower than pond scum?” asked Heather with a twinkle in her eye. “Comparing them to pond scum is an insult to pond scum,” said Girdler emphatically.”
― Douglas E. Richards, BrainWeb

“could cite endless studies, but let me finish by quoting Nicholas Carr. His book, The Shallows: What the Internet is Doing to Our Brains, came out back in 2011.”
― Douglas E. Richards, BrainWeb

“As Yogi Berra once said: “It’s tough to make predictions. Especially about the future.” The experts in 1880 couldn’t imagine a technology, a solution, that”
― Douglas E. Richards, BrainWeb

“Politics, noun: [Poly ‘many’ + tics ‘blood-sucking parasites’]” ​—Larry Hardiman “We hang the petty thieves. The master thieves we appoint to public office.” ​—Aesop “Any American who is prepared to run for president should automatically, by definition, be disqualified from ever doing so.” ​—Gore Vidal”
― Douglas E. Richards, BrainWeb

“Sons of Islam everywhere, the jihad is a duty—to establish the rule of Allah on earth and to liberate your countries and yourselves from America’s domination and its Zionist allies. It is your battle—either victory or martyrdom.” ​—Ahmed Yassin, founder of Hamas”
― Douglas E. Richards, BrainWeb

“you”
― Douglas E. Richards, BrainWeb

“Politics, noun: [Poly ‘many’ + tics ‘blood-sucking parasites’]” ​—Larry Hardiman”
― Douglas E. Richards, BrainWeb

“Most of the Americans believed that any culture other than their own was backward and beneath contempt.”
― Douglas E. Richards, BrainWeb

“Right after high school, Fisher had already decided what he would do with his life. He would aim for the ultimate heights, as befitting someone of his superiority. He would become a career politician, the profession that attracted a higher percentage of fellow psychopaths than any other. And while there were a number of pathetic men and women who had chosen politics in a sincere effort to help others, on the whole, politicians were narcissistic backstabbers. Professional liars. Totally selfish and without conscience, most couldn’t care any less about others, although they could con anyone into believing they were the most compassionate people on Earth. There”
― Douglas E. Richards, BrainWeb

“We hang the petty thieves. The master thieves we appoint to public office.”             —Aesop   “Any”
― Douglas E. Richards, BrainWeb

“His book, The Shallows: What the Internet is Doing to Our Brains, came out back in 2011. (glancing down at her notes) “The Net delivers precisely the kind of sensory and cognitive stimuli—repetitive, intensive, interactive, addictive—that have been shown to result in strong and rapid alterations in brain circuits and functions. The Net may well be the single most powerful mind-altering technology that has ever come into general use.”
― Douglas E. Richards, BrainWeb