Lecter is believed to have antisocial personality disorder, and is branded a "pure sociopath". However, in the books, he is only described as a sociopath because no one knows what else to call him. Although he has no conscience and feels no remorse for his crimes, he does not exhibit other traits traditionally linked to antisocial personality disorder: he is not shallow or exploitative, does not commit petty crimes, and was never a drifter. He describes the majority of human kind as "poor dullards" and yet thrives on others' admiration, a case in point being his recalcitrant unwillingness to part with Dolarhyde's letter because, according to Graham, "it was full of compliments." Lecter believes himself to be simply evil, saying to Starling that he cannot be reduced to a set of influences: "Nothing happened to me, Officer Starling - I happened."