Eric Hoffer
Eric Hoffer
Eric Hofferwas an American moral and social philosopher. He was the author of ten books and was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom in February 1983. His first book, The True Believer, was widely recognized as a classic, receiving critical acclaim from both scholars and laymen, although Hoffer believed that The Ordeal of Change was his finest work...
NationalityAmerican
ProfessionWriter
Date of Birth25 July 1902
CountryUnited States of America
pride fighting trouble
It is doubtful whether the oppressed ever fight for freedom. They fight for pride and power-power to oppress others.
sacrifice self realization
How much easier is self-sacrifice than self-realization!
desire satisfaction greater
The less satisfaction we derive from being ourselves, the greater is our desire to be like others.
self extinction matter
The short-lived self, teetering on the edge of extinction, is the only thing that can ever really matter.
cease
What are we when we are alone? Some, when they are alone, cease to exist.
men animal perfect
Nature attains perfection, but man never does. There is a perfect ant, a perfect bee, but man is perpetually unfinished. He is both an unfinished animal and an unfinished man. It is this incurable unfinishedness which sets man apart from other living things. For, in the attempt to finish himself, man becomes a creator. Moreover, the incurable unfinishedness keeps man perpetually immature, perpetually capable of learning and growing.
achievement fuel resentment
To be aware how fruitful the playful mood can be is to be immune to the propaganda of the alienated, which extols resentment as a fuel of achievement.
artist way fields
The genuine creator creates something that has a life of its own, something that can exist and function without him. This is true not only of the writer, artist and scientist, but of creators in other fields.With the noncreative it is the other way around: in whatever they do, they arrange things so that they themselves become indispensable.
strong powerful use
We often use strong language not to express a powerful emotion but to evoke it in us.
littles cures alienation
There is no alienation that a little power will not cure.
passionate pursuit pursued
In every passionate pursuit, the pursuit counts more than the object pursued.
hate hatred feelings
The Americans are poor haters in international affairs because of their innate feeling of superiority over all foreigners. An American's hatred for a fellow American.is far more virulent than any antipathy he can work up against foreigners.Should Americans begin to hate foreigners wholeheartedly, it will be an indication that they have lost confidence in their own way of life.
humanity reason-why motive
There is no reason why humanity cannot be served equally by weighty and trivial motives.
mind passionate connections
There is a close connection between lack of confidence and the passionate state of mind.