Con Artist Quotes

“You’re a blackmailer—”
“I broker information.”
“A con artist—”
“I create opportunity.”
“A bawd and a murderer—”
“I don’t run whores, and I kill for a cause.”
“And what cause is that?”
“Same as yours, merch. Profit.”
“How do you get your information, Mister Brekker?”
“You might say I’m a lockpick.”
“You must be a very gifted one.”
“I am indeed.” Kaz leaned back slightly. “You see, every man is a safe, a vault of secrets and longings. Now, there are those who take the brute’s way, but I prefer a gentler approach—the right pressure applied at the right moment, in the right place. It’s a delicate thing.
“Do you always speak in metaphors, Mister Brekker?”
Kaz smiled. “It’s not a metaphor.”
He was out of his chair before his chains hit the ground.”
― Leigh Bardugo, Six of Crows

“You could make any man forget his years. When I saw you arrive in your lovely dress, I was conquered. If you don’t wish to dance anymore perhaps we could chat?”
- David Walton”
― Barry Gray, The Revenge of Esther Norman The Complete First Series

“So much the better if no one can ever say with absolute certainty: There is Arsene Lupin! The essential point is that the public may be able to refer to my work and say, without fear of mistake: Arsene Lupin did that!”
― Maurice Leblanc, Arsène Lupin, Gentleman-Thief

“It is a harsh reality that some of the most important and respectable jobs which deserve high salaries might be better off with low salaries. A politician, or a minister, or a teacher is sure to be working sincerely and selflessly for the good of the people when through and through there is little monetary reward guaranteed. This is how the charlatans are weeded out of the field.”
― Criss Jami, Healology

“An artist does things naturally, without effort. Some power guides his hand. A forger struggles, and if he succeeds, it is a genuine achievement.”
― Patricia Highsmith, Ripley Under Ground

“A persistent liar cannot prosper without a powerful memory.”
― Amit Kalantri, Wealth of Words