Top 5 Quotes by Sam Vaknin

The vast majority of psychopaths, like an iceberg, are underwater, and like an iceberg, they are inert. They do nothing. They're just there. They torment their spouse by being unempathic, but they don't beat her or kill

The vast majority of psychopaths, like an iceberg, are underwater, and like an iceberg, they are inert. They do nothing. They're just there. They torment their spouse by being unempathic, but they don't beat her or kill her. They bully coworkers, but they don't burn the office. They are not dramatic. They are pernicious. Most psychopaths are subtle. They are more like poison than a knife, and they are more like slow-working poison than cyanide.

Sam Vaknin

Knives, Office, Bully

Hate is the complement of fear and narcissists like being feared. It imbues them with an intoxicating sensation of omnipotence.

Sam Vaknin

Hate, Omnipotence, Narcissism

Sam Vaknin (2014). “A to Z of Narcissism and Narcissistic Personality Disorder Encyclopedia: The Narcissism Bible”, p.714, Narcissus Publishing

The sadistic narcissist perceives himself as Godlike, ruthless and devoid of scruples, capricious and unfathomable, emotion-less and non-sexual, omniscient, omnipotent and omni-present, a plague, a devastation, an inescapable verdict.

Sam Vaknin

Devastation, Emotion, Narcissist

The narcissist devours people, consumes their output, and casts the empty, writhing shells aside.

Sam Vaknin

People, Narcissistic, Shells

Sam Vaknin (2005). “Diary of a Narcissist”, p.90, Narcissus Publishing

The ability to imagine oneself in another's place and understand the other's feelings, desires, ideas, and actions. The most obvious example, perhaps, is that of the actor or singer who genuinely feels the part he is performing.

Sam Vaknin

Ideas, Empathy, Feelings

Sam Vaknin (2014). “A to Z of Narcissism and Narcissistic Personality Disorder Encyclopedia: The Narcissism Bible”, p.261, Narcissus Publishing