Ben laughed. “You think all religions are scams, don’t you?””Yes, I suppose I do,” Epstein said. “But the religions are mostly scamming themselves. That they scam others is usually a side-effect.

Note to the wise: whenever someone insists that he wants to buy something from you, but tells you there’s no real value in it yet, two things are happening: he’s lying, and you’re being taken.