QUOTABLE: James Q. Wilson and Richard J. Hernstein

"Impulsiveness can be thought of as either the cause or the effect of the poor conditionability of psychopaths. Either way, in their emotional lives psychopaths discount future events more steeply than nonpsychopaths, particularly if the event is aversive. The relevance of this peculiarity to criminal behavior can hardly be overestimated, for crime often pits a quick gain against avoiding a remote punishment. Because of impulsiveness, the psychopath is driven toward the wrong end of the choice."

James Q. Wilson and Richard J. Herrnstein, in
Crime and Human Nature