BookFilter: The Wisdom of Scumbags
October 26, 2015 2:53 PM   Subscribe

I remember reading about this book maybe 3-4 years ago that collected the genuinely smart things said by terrible people, with an emphasis on hypocrites. Some examples were a popular preacher on marriage, who was later revealed to be an adulterer, and advice on financial prudence from con-men.

I seem to recall Trump was featured, and maybe Ted Haggard, and the book delved into the cognitive dissonance of 'do as I say, not as I do', and a possible theory of why the Holier-than-Thou so often fall far more spectacularly, and how deceiving people may lead to a sort of ultra-defensive preachiness/public display of morality.

The impression I got was that it was mainly a collection of solid advice, in bite-sized quote form, with some editorializing thrown in.

This post was inspired by finding out that a quote a friend and I really liked came from the founder of Herbalife.
posted by Gin and Broadband to Writing & Language (2 answers total) 7 users marked this as a favorite
 


Response by poster: This place is magic. Thank you MonkeyToes!
posted by Gin and Broadband at 3:13 PM on October 26, 2015


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