How Donald Trump sees himself

Story highlights

• CNN looked at Trump's writing, speeches and interviews over 30 years
• His outlook: 'I always get even'

(CNN)He considers himself a member of "the lucky sperm club."

He trusts no one, and places a premium on revenge. ("If you do not get even, you are just a schmuck!")

He treats every decision he makes "like a lover," sometimes thinking with his head, other times with other parts of his body, because it reminds him to "keep in touch with my basic impulses."

And to make creative choices, he writes: "I try to step back and remember my first shallow reaction. The day I realized it can be smart to be shallow was, for me, a deep experience."

This is Donald J. Trump as he sees himself and the world.

CNN scoured thousands of pages of books, speeches, profiles and television interview transcripts from the past three decades to stitch together a portrait based entirely on the Republican presidential front-runner's own words.

Taken together, his words offer further insight into the leadership style of the billionaire-turned-politician, whose extraordinary candidacy has simultaneously electrified and repulsed large swaths of the electorate.

The GOP candidate has relentlessly mocked his opponents, lashed out at reporters and scorned the status quo. He has trusted his instincts, refused to apologize amid controversy, stood by his allies and sought to destroy his foes. He has focused on the big picture ("Make America Great Again") rather than on details such as abortion policy.

Trump authored more than a dozen books about his experiences in the business world that shaped this outlook -- most of them self-help treatises with titles including the 1987 best-seller "The Art of the Deal," 2004's "Think Like a Billionaire: Everything You Need to Know About Success, Real Estate, and Life," and 2007's "Think Big."

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On the campaign trail, Trump has brushed off questions about his temperament, his leadership style and how he would govern. He has derided the press as being "among the most dishonest people ever created by God" — insisting that reporters have gotten his story wrong time and again.

Trump himself has shared his story in detail. Some recurrent themes in his writings include strength, success, self-confidence, distrust and revenge. He has often written and spoken about what he sees as the decline of the United States, a bedrock theme of his presidential campaign.

"The world is a vicious and brutal place, he wrote in "Think Big." "Even your friends are out to get you: They want your job, they want your house, they want your money, they want your wife, and they even want your dog.''

"When people wrong you, go after those people, because it is a good feeling and because other people will see you doing it," he writes. "I always get even."