Quotes about con
A collection of quotes on the topic of con, people, doing, believer.
Quotes about con
“Religion was invented when the first con man met the first fool.”
Mark Twain (1835–1910) American author and humorist
Friedrich Nietzsche (1844–1900) German philosopher, poet, composer, cultural critic, and classical philologist
Sec. 2
The Gay Science (1882)
Leonardo DiCaprio (1974) American actor and film producer
about the downsides of famehttp://www.bbc.co.uk/films/2004/12/18/leo_dicaprio_the_aviator_interview.shtml
“So far I’m not seeing a lot of difference between me and a carnival con-man.”
Richelle Mead book The Golden Lily
Source: The Golden Lily
Ken Kesey book One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest
Source: One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest
“Never do yourself, what you can con professionals into doing for you.”
Lois McMaster Bujold (1949) Science Fiction and fantasy author from the USA
Tim Dorsey book Triggerfish Twist
Source: Triggerfish Twist
Ally Carter (1974) American writer
Source: Uncommon Criminals
Ally Carter (1974) American writer
Source: Uncommon Criminals
Robyn Davidson (1950) Australian writer
Source: Tracks: A Woman's Solo Trek Across 1700 Miles of Australian Outback
“If pro is the opposite of con, what is the opposite of Congress?”
Will Rogers (1879–1935) American humorist and entertainer
Miranda July (1974) American performance artist, musician and writer
Source: No One Belongs Here More Than You
Alice A. Bailey (1880–1949) esoteric, theosophist, writer
Source: The Unfinished Autobiography (1951), Chapter V - Part 1
Muhammad of Ghor (1160–1206) Ghurid Sultan
About the flight of Jatwan and his death in battle, Kutbu-d din (general of Muhammad of Ghor). Hasan Nizami. Elliot and Dowson, Vol. II : Elliot and Dowson, History of India as told by its own Historians, 8 Volumes, Allahabad Reprint, 1964. pp. 217-218. Also quoted in Jain, Meenakshi (2011). The India they saw: Foreign accounts.
Donald J. Trump (1946) 45th President of the United States of America
Source: 1980s, Trump: The Art of the Deal (1987), p. 60
Doris Lessing (1919–2013) British novelist, poet, playwright, librettist, biographer and short story writer
The Summer Before the Dark (1973)
Margaret Thatcher (1925–2013) British stateswoman and politician
TV Interview for Yorkshire Television Woman to Woman (2 October 1985) http://www.margaretthatcher.org/document/105830 <br class="br">Second term as Prime Minister
Hillary Clinton (1947) American politician, senator, Secretary of State, First Lady
Post Presidential Election, Wellesley Commencement Speech (2017)
Mike Murphy (political consultant) (1962) American political consultant
As quoted in "Debriefing Mike Murphy" https://www.weeklystandard.com/matt-labash/debriefing-mike-murphy (18 March 2016), by Matt Labash, The Weekly Standard <br class="br">2010s
Nathanael Greene (1742–1786) American general in the American Revolutionary War
Letter to George Washington (November 1779)
Robert Sheckley book Dimension of Miracles
“I shall continue to live it,” Carmody said. “That is what moments are for.”
Source: Dimension of Miracles (1968), Chapter 28 (pp. 189-190; closing words)
Paul Cézanne (1839–1906) French painter
Quote from Cezanne's letter to Camille Pissarro, from L'Estaque 2 July 1876, taken from Alex Danchev, The Letters of Paul Cézanne, 2013; as quoted in the 'Daily Beast' online, 13 Oct. 2013 https://www.thedailybeast.com/cezannes-letter-to-pissarro-picture-business-isnt-going-well<br>'The very opposite of 'modeling' meant roughly that Cézanne and Pissarro in their common painting-years in open air would lay down one plane or patch of color next to another in the painting, without any 'modeling' or shading between them - so that it looked as if each component part of the painting could be picked up from the canvas a little like a 'playing card from the table', as Cezanne explains here. <br class="br">Quotes of Paul Cezanne, 1860s - 1870s
Aron Ra (1962) Aron Ra is an atheist activist and the host of the Ra-Men Podcast
"1st Foundational Falsehood of Creationism" https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KnJX68ELbAY, Youtube (November 11, 2007) <br class="br">Youtube, Foundational Falsehoods of Creationism
Martin Rushent (1948–2011) English record producer
Perrone, Pierre, Martin Rushent: Synth-pop pioneer and innovative producer of the Human League, the Stranglers and Buzzcocks, 2011, http://www.independent.co.uk/news/obituaries/martin-rushent-synthpop-pioneer-and-innovative-producer-of-the-human-league-the-stranglers-and-buzzcocks-2294842.html, The Independent, 11 June 2011
Ma Ying-jeou (1950) Taiwanese politician, president of the Republic of China
Ma Ying-jeou (2011) cited in: " ‘One China’ idea up for discussion: Ma http://www.taipeitimes.com/News/front/archives/2011/06/25/2003506626" in The Taipei Times, 25 June 2011. <br class="br">Statement made during the interview with Apple Daily, 24 June 2011. <br class="br">Strait issues
Rob Enderle (1954) American financial analyst
Donald Trump vs. Steve Jobs: The tale of two con artists http://cio.com/article/3040751/leadership-management/donald-trump-vs-steve-jobs-the-tale-of-two-con-artists.html in CIO (4 March 2016)
Linda Smith (1958–2006) comedian
Series 1, Episode 6
A Brief History of Timewasting
Yeshayahu Leibowitz (1903–1994) israeli intellectual
"Judaism, Human Values and the Jewish State" (1995)
Vladimir Lenin book "Left-Wing" Communism: An Infantile Disorder
CH 5, "Left Wing Communism in Germany. The Leaders, the Party, the Class, the Mass"
"Left-Wing" Communism: An Infantile Disorder (1920)
Melanie Phillips (1951) British journalist
The Politics of Progress http://www.melaniephillips.com/articles-new/?p=285
Charles Simic (1938) American poet
"A Thieves' Thanksgiving," http://www.nybooks.com/blogs/nyrblog/2014/nov/26/thieves-thanksgiving/?utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=NYR+Goya+Ferrante+crooks&utm_content=NYR+Goya+Ferrante+crooks+CID_8376c474295b4e263a32522d2bbfd922&utm_source=Email%20marketing%20software&utm_term=A%20Thieves%20Thanksgiving New York Review of Books, November 26, 2014
Robert Fisk (1946) English writer and journalist
Another Brick in the Wall http://www.palestinechronicle.com/story-040406231246.htm, April 4, 2006 <br class="br">2006
“The one sure mark of a con, though, is the promise of free money.”
Michael Hudson (economist) (1939) American economist
" The $4.7 trillion pyramid: Why Social Security won't be enough to save Wall Street http://www.harpers.org/archive/2005/04/0080499" in Harper's Magazine (April 2005)
Aron Ra (1962) Aron Ra is an atheist activist and the host of the Ra-Men Podcast
"1st Foundational Falsehood of Creationism" https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KnJX68ELbAY, Youtube (November 11, 2007) <br class="br">Youtube, Foundational Falsehoods of Creationism
Alex Jones (1974) American radio host, author, conspiracy theorist and filmmaker
You know, the man in me is ready to take all on! and... you know what I'm talking about, don't you? ARGH, you scum! I hate gang members and filth! And it has nothing to do with black people. But I will stump your head in if you start a fight with me, you thug scum! Anyways, excuse me ladies and gentlemen. <br class="br"> "Alex Jones Self-Defense Rant" https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HIMJ_pxy2eU, July 2013. <br class="br">2013
“We've become a nation of con men, living by selling double glazing to each other.”
Fred Dibnah (1938–2004) English steeplejack and television personality, with a keen interest in mechanical engineering
Unsourced
Shreya Ghoshal (1984) Indian playback singer
Talking about kids (1) http://m.timesofindia.com/entertainment/hindi/music/news/I-am-a-girl-next-door-Shreya-Ghoshal/articleshow/9455640.cms
James Randi (1928) Canadian-American stage magician and scientific skeptic
Swift, 2 September 2005, "Another New Fan" http://www.randi.org/jr/2006-10/100620sentient.html#i7
Alex Jones (1974) American radio host, author, conspiracy theorist and filmmaker
Alex's Bill Gates Chicken-Neck Bastard 'Rant' https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vg-5WgcMV_o, September 2011.
Cindy Sheehan (1957) American antiwar activist
Letter to editors of ABC's Nightline, March 15 2005. http://www.slate.com/id/2124500/ http://www.boston.com/news/globe/editorial_opinion/oped/articles/2005/08/22/the_cindy_sheehan_you_dont_know/ http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1460787/posts <br class="br">2005
Donald J. Trump (1946) 45th President of the United States of America
Today <br class="br">2011-04-07 <br class="br">NBC <br class="br">Television <br class="br">regarding Barack Obama <br class="br">Two million dollars is the sum of all the Obama presidential campaign's post-election legal expenses. http://www.politifact.com/truth-o-meter/statements/2011/apr/12/donald-trump/donald-trump-claims-obama-has-spent-2-million-lega/ <br class="br">2010s, 2011
“From pro's and con's they fell to a warmer way of disputing.”
Miguel de Cervantes (1547–1616) Spanish novelist, poet, and playwright
Source: Don Quixote de la Mancha (1605–1615), Part I, Book III, Ch. 10.
Robert G. Kaiser (1943) American journalist
2000s, "Why can't we be more like Finland?" (2005)
Tommy Franks (1945) United States Army general
I was proud of my country.
Source: American Soldier (2004), p. 247
Nathanael Greene (1742–1786) American general in the American Revolutionary War
Letter to George Washington (26 April 1779)
Lawrence Wright (1947) American writer
[Wright, Lawrence, February 14, 2011, The Apostate, Paul Haggis vs. the Church of Scientology, The New Yorker, http://www.newyorker.com/reporting/2011/02/14/110214fa_fact_wright?currentPage=all]
Jerry Coyne book Faith vs. Fact: Why Science and Religion are Incompatible
Source: Faith vs. Fact (2015), p. 83
Bill Clinton (1946) 42nd President of the United States
Interview with Chris Wallace, FOX News Sunday, September 24, 2006. Transcript: William Jefferson Clinton on 'FOX News Sunday' http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,215397,00.html <br class="br">2000s
Mike Murphy (political consultant) (1962) American political consultant
As quoted in "Debriefing Mike Murphy" https://www.weeklystandard.com/matt-labash/debriefing-mike-murphy (18 March 2016), by Matt Labash, The Weekly Standard <br class="br">2010s
“If "pro" is the opposite of "con", is "progress" the opposite of "congress?"”
Gallagher (1946–2022) American comedian
From the 1985 movie The Bookkeeper.
Jeremy Corbyn (1949) British Labour Party politician
Speech http://hansard.millbanksystems.com/commons/1989/mar/21/rent-officers in the House of Commons (21 March 1989). <br class="br">1980s
Nathanael Greene (1742–1786) American general in the American Revolutionary War
Letter to George Washington (July 1778)
Paul LePage (1948) American businessman, Republican Party politician, and the 74th Governor of Maine
In an interview with Boston radio host Howie Carr. http://mpbn.net/post/lepage-calls-father-slain-muslim-american-soldier-con-artist#stream/0 (August 25, 2016)
Kenneth Rexroth (1905–1982) American poet, writer, anarchist, academic and conscientious objector
"Pysch Ward"
An Autobiographical Novel (1991)
Ken Kesey book One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest
Source: One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest (1962), Ch. 22
Janeane Garofalo (1964) comedian, actress, political activist, writer
Left of the Dial (2005)
Documentaries
Mahatma Gandhi (1869–1948) pre-eminent leader of Indian nationalism during British-ruled India
Letter in Harijan (1938) http://web.archive.org/20021008131454/die_meistersinger.tripod.com/gandhi9.html <br class="br">1930s
Matt Taibbi (1970) author and journalist
"Goodbye, and Good Riddance, to Centrism" Rolling Stone, June 13, 2017 http://www.rollingstone.com/politics/features/taibbi-goodbye-and-good-riddance-to-centrism-w487628
Dennis Nilsen (1945–2018) British serial killer
As quoted in Exclusive: Dennis Nilsen: My Prison Life of Drink and Drugs http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/uk-news/exclusive-dennis-nilsen-prison-life-555104, Mirror.co.uk (27 August, 2005)
“"5.06 AM (Every Strangers Eyes)" on The Pros and Cons of Hitchhiking (Roger Waters, 1985)”
Roger Waters (1943) English songwriter, bassist, and lyricist of Pink Floyd
Ernest Gellner (1925–1995) Czech anthropologist, philosopher and sociologist
Poker Player (1969), reprinted in The Devil in Modern Philosophy (1974)
Kevin Rashid Johnson (1971) American prisoner and social activist
Defying the Tomb: Selected Prison Writings and Art of Kevin Rashid Johnson (2010)
Sathya Sai Baba (1926–2011) Indian guru
As quoted in Sai Baba: Man of Miracles (1977) by Howard Murphet, p. 208
Ivan Illich (1926–2002) austrian philosopher and theologist
The Cultivation of Conspiracy (1998)
Context: The Latin osculum is neither very old nor frequent. It is one of three words that can be translated by the English, "kiss." In comparison with the affectionate basium and the lascivious suavium, osculum was a latecomer into classical Latin, and was used in only one circumstance as a ritual gesture: In the second century, it became the sign given by a departing soldier to a woman, thereby recognizing her expected child as his offspring.
In the Christian liturgy of the first century, the osculum assumed a new function. It became one of two high points in the celebration of the Eucharist. Conspiratio, the mount-to-mouth kiss, became the solemn liturgical gesture by which participants in the cult-action shared their breath or spirit with one another. It came to signify their union in one Holy Spirit, the community that takes shape in God's breath. The ecclesia came to be through a public ritual action, the liturgy, and the soul of this liturgy was the conspiratio. Explicitly, corporeally, the central Christian celebration was understood as a co-breathing, a con-spiracy, the bringing about of a common atmosphere, a divine milieu.
“When bullying was needed it was generally understood that he could do it con amore.”
Andrew Dickson White (1832–1918) American politician
Source: Autobiography of Andrew Dickson White, Vol. 2 (1922), p. 13
Context: The British ambassador was Sir Robert Morier. He too was a strong character, though lacking apparently in some of General [der Infanterie] von Schweinitz's more kindly qualities. He was big, roughish, and at times so brusque that he might almost be called brutal. When bullying was needed it was generally understood that he could do it con amore.
Ivan Illich (1926–2002) austrian philosopher and theologist
The Cultivation of Conspiracy (1998)
Context: Community in our European tradition is not the outcome of an act of authoritative foundation, nor a gift from nature or its gods, nor the result of management, planning and design, but the consequence of a conspiracy, a deliberate, mutual, somatic and gratuitous gift to each other. The prototype of that conspiracy lies in the celebration of the early Christian liturgy in which, no matter their origin, men and women, Greeks and Jews, slaves and citizens, engender a physical reality that transcends them. The shared breath, the con-spiratio are the "peace" understood as the community that arises from it.
Charles Stross The Laundry Files
“That’s not…untrue. But money corrupts. Almost invariably, powers that arise around money are corrupted by it. He might have started out as a true believer, but money has a way of taking over. A church is a business, after all, and those employees or executives who are good at raising money are promoted by their fellows.”
Source: The Laundry Files, The Apocalypse Codex (2012), Chapter 7, “Communion” (p. 126)
Giovanni Morassutti (1980) Italian actor, theatre director and cultural entrepreneur.
From the official website
James Eastland (1904–1986) American politician
Congressional Records https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/GPO-CRECB-1944-pt1/pdf/GPO-CRECB-1944-pt1-17-1.pdf#page=9 (January 31, 1944) <br class="br">1940s
Shrikant Talageri (1958) Indian author
The Rigveda: A Historical Analysis (2000), Chapter 9 : Michael Witzel - An Examination of Western Vedic Scholarship
Linh Nga (1982) American-Vietnamese film director, film producer, actress, screenwriter, and news anchor
Vnexpress. Van Hoa page http://vnexpress.net/gl/van-hoa/2006/09/3b9eec76/ 2002
“Con le calcagna pagava lo scotto.”
Francesco Berni (1497–1535) Italian poet
With whip and spur he paid his tavern bill.
XLIV, 70
Rifacimento of Orlando Innamorato
Roger Bacon (1220–1292) medieval philosopher and theologian
Source: De Secretis Operibus Artis et Naturae et de Nullitate Magise, Ch. 11, in a reference to Bacon's knowledge of making gunpowder, as quoted by Thomas Thomson, The History of Chemistry (1830) Vol. 1, p. 36.
“High pressure salesmen focus on the short term incentives to outweigh the long term cons”
Isaac Mashman (2000) businessman, speaker
Yōsuke Kubozuka (1979) Japanese actor
Yosuke Kubozuka Talks New Crime Drama Giri/Haji https://www.wonderlandmagazine.com/2019/10/17/yosuke-kubozuka-giri-haji-interview/ (October 17, 2019)
“You’re working something, and I should have you arrested for impersonating a con man.”
Adam Rakunas American author
Source: Windswept (2015), Chapter 16 (p. 195)
Eric Stuart (1967) American voice actor, voice director, singer, songwriter, and guitarist
Source: Interview with Eric Stuart, voice actor for Pokemon and Yu-Gi-Oh! https://jotaku.net/2020/07/14/interview-with-eric-stuart-voice-actor-for-pokemon-and-yu-gi-oh/ (July 14, 2020)
Steven Crowder (1987) American actor
Then again, I’m a grown man.<br>Like all great character assassination attempts, implication is much more effective than accusation.<br>Listen, I’m not somebody who really cares about polarization, political correctness or even what context can be fit into proper 40-character formatting. People can hold any opinion that they want on any subject that they choose. Just don’t proactively lie to people. It’s a simple request really, and one that we don’t hear nearly enough.<br>It’s for that same reason that I’d rather engage the president over his current policy failures than crazy conspiracy theories. By that same token, I would expect many of the HuffPo readers to hate me for plenty of things that I’ve actually said in the past as opposed to those made up by weak, lefty, online-commentating wieners.<br>Go ahead and take your foot off the “civility” gas pedal for all I care. We should all be replacing it with “honesty.” <br class="br">Source: 13 February 2012 on Huffington Post https://www.huffpost.com/entry/cpac-2012-rap-video_b_1273779