The Shame Machine Quotes

“I should note that empathy is hardly a cure-all. It tends to embed biases, because by nature we find it easier to empathize with people like us.”
― Cathy O'Neil, The Shame Machine: Who Profits in the New Age of Humiliation

“Poverty, in much of the world, is so tainted by shame that people who are poor go to great lengths not to associate themselves with it, and to contrast their position, favorably, with those who are even poorer.”
― Cathy O'Neil, The Shame Machine: Who Profits in the New Age of Humiliation

“We’ll fare far better as a society, in terms of both happiness and justice, if we succeed in redirecting shame from its current victims, who are disproportionately poor and powerless, to people who are taking advantage of the rest of us and poisoning our lives and culture.”
― Cathy O'Neil, The Shame Machine: Who Profits in the New Age of Humiliation

“The primary purpose of shame is to enforce conformity. This, I know, is a problematic word. It signals spinelessness, sheeplike behavior, the sacrifice of one’s individuality for the collective. Worse, the conventions of the group we conform to can be flawed or unjust.”
― Cathy O'Neil, The Shame Machine: Who Profits in the New Age of Humiliation

“Giant sectors of the economy are organized and optimized to make us feel horrible.”
― Cathy O'Neil, The Shame Machine: Who Profits in the New Age of Humiliation