Ally Carter Quotes

For the grifter, ripping people off is seldom the point. The grifter is an artiste who invests in the long con.

It was the heart of any scam or fiddle -- keep the punter uncertain, or, if he is certain, make him certain of the wrong thing.

You set me up," I say. "One big con. You can't blame me because I turned out not to be gullible enough. You can't blame the mark. That's not how it works. Have some respect for the nature of the game.

Marks forget that whenever something's too good to be true, that's because it's a con.

We can all be conned but at what point do we realize that we're being conned and to what point do we allow ourselves to be conned?

The con movie is a little bit different where maybe we tell you what we're going to do but it never goes down the way you expect because there's so much double-crossing and cheats and lies going on along the whole way.

The reason con artists get away with what they get away with is, their victims are ashamed of their own blindness and their own gullibility, and they tend to just quietly go away.

Three-card monte is one of the most persistent and effective cons in history. The games still pop up along city streets. But we tend to dismiss the victims as rubes.

So far I’m not seeing a lot of difference between me and a carnival con-man.

I know a con when I see one.

Just like my Uncle Charlie used to say, just before he sprung the trap: He said, "You can't cheat and honest man! Never give a sucker an even break or smarten up a chump!

And I think it's because good cons are all based on the victim's need, and the successful con artist is the one, I guess, who can exploit that. I remember reading something about this, that one of the great traits of confidence tricksters is the level that they flatter their victim.

This is the ultimate con game - I'm having fun and people pay me to do it.

Hollywood is largely about scammers and con men. It was my main livelihood for about 25 years, and the scams were beautiful and ugly, cheap and expensive, but, wow, were there a lot of scammers.

There are some frauds so well conducted that it would be stupidity not to be deceived by them.

… one of the world's most disgraceful scams

I believe that trying to deal with Donald Trump is like trying to play three-card monte in Central Park: it's not going to work out.

The best confidence artist makes us feel not as if we're being taken for a ride but as if we are genuinely wonderful human beings who are acting the way wonderful human beings act and getting what we deserve.

I know every trick in the book, in terms of schemes and fraud.

The name 'con artist' really does capture it. They're artists, and I have admiration for all artists.

The most important thing for any con artist is never to think like a mark. Marks think they can get something for nothing. Marks think they can get what they don’t deserve and could never deserve. Marks are stupid and pathetic and sad. Marks think they’re going to go home one night and have the girl they’ve loved since they were a kid suddenly love them back. Marks forget that whenever something’s too good to be true, that’s because it’s a con.

For me the curse is a crutch, but the con is everything.

She can’t help it. She loves the con. I tell myself I’m not like her, but I have to admit I love it too.

Life is a publicity stunt. A shill. You've been had.

Give me an honest con man any day.