Answered on Quora. There are a lot of answers on there from psychopaths themselves saying that they are not bad people at all. Don’t listen to them. Seriously, just don’t.
Of course they are. But then, I don’t cotton well to assholes. I don’t see how anyone could tolerate such an aggressive and hostile person for very long. As a general rule, if you let a psychopath into your life, you will be harmed. Not maybe harmed, not a chance you will be harmed, but a certainty that you will be harmed. Because that’s what they do. Psychopaths harm and damage other humans as part of their basic life trajectory.
Even controlled psychopaths like some surgeons (a great profession for a controlled psychopath) are not very pleasant to be around. While they are not criminals, most people who know them will say that they are assholes or bastards. Of course, to a psychopath, that is a compliment.
