The psychopath must be subtle with her psychopathic behavior lest those around her eventually cut through her facade.  The unrestrained and uncontrolled psychopath that burns through everything will eventually find desolation or incarceration.  Just as the kleptomaniac eventually gets punished for the nature of his ways, the psychopath that creates the most intricate, but fragile, of webs will eventually lose.  While I am not foolish enough to suggest that the psychopath avoid antisocial behavior entirely, I do suggest a level of calculated risk.  No matter what our self-grandiosity tells us, we are not invincible and we must choose subtle psychopathic behavior.

Consider the analogy of the wolf and the shepherd.  If the flock is large enough, the shepherd will probably not care whether one sheep has wandered off or whether it has been devoured by the wolf.  However, if many sheep go missing, the shepherd will eventually look into the disappearances and will take measures to ensure that more are not lost.  It is in the wolf’s best interest to not be greedy and to feed rather than feast.  The psychopath that commits overt antisocial actions is sure to draw the attention of others.  At best, the psychopath is isolated, and at worst, the psychopath is “taken care of.”

I’ve been lucky and while I should have attracted the attention of others with my antisocial extravaganzas of the past, I somehow did not.  Each time I succumbed to the bottle, or manipulated another, or left another a bit light in the wallet, I gambled with my own status and freedom.  Lambs dropped left and right in my past.  I eventually came to realize those words that I write here.  I would not want to give up antisocial ways entirely – as they have their uses – but I have come to be much more judicious in deciding when to act and when to stand still.  The more weight I put on the web, the more likely it is to break. It is that simple.  And so I urge my psychopathic readers to do the same.  Be calculated with your manipulation, deceit, and other antisocial ways and minimize your risk.  There is no sense in self-destruction from rolling the dice one too many times.  Subtle psychopathic behavior is required for maximum effect and minimal risk.