“Before I knew that a man could kill a man, because it happens all the time. Now I know that even the person with whom you've shared food, or whom you've slept, even he can kill you with no trouble. The closest neighbor can kill you with his teeth: that is what I have Learned since the genocide, and my eyes no longer gaze the same on the face of the world.”

“I have been primarily interested in how and why ordinary people do unusual things, things that seem alien to their natures. Why do good people sometimes act evil? Why do smart people sometimes do dumb or irrational things?”

“One can't live mindfully without being enmeshed in psychological processes that are around us.”

“Situational variables can exert powerful influences over human behavior, more so that we recognize or acknowledge.”

“Time perspective is one of the most powerful influences on all of human behavior. We're trying to show how people become biased to being exclusively past-, present- or future-oriented.”

“The level of shyness has gone up dramatically in the last decade. I think shyness is an index of social pathology rather than a pathology of the individual.”

“The line between good and evil is permeable and almost anyone can be induced to cross it when pressured by situational forces.”

“Human behavior is incredibly pliable, plastic.”

“If you put good apples into a bad situation, you’ll get bad apples.”

“Heroes are those who can somehow resist the power of the situation and act out of noble motives, or behave in ways that do not demean others when they easily can.”

“Being hurt personally triggered a curiosity about how such beliefs are formed.”