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
dedication people passionate
...the majority of people cannot endure the bareness and futility of their lives unless they have some ardent dedication, or some passionate pursuit in which they can lose themselves.
thinking deceiving scruples
There are many who have grave scruples about deceiving but think it as nothing to deceive themselves.
self doubt poison
It is our talents rusting unused within us that secrete the poison of self-doubt into our bloodstream.
learners
The future belongs to the learners-not the knowers.
self denial harsh
The act of self-denial seems to confer on us the right to be harsh and merciless toward others.
country numbers people
The education explosion is producing a vast number of people who want to live significant, important lives but lack the ability to satisfy this craving for importance by individual achievement. The country is being swamped with nobodies who want to be somebodies.
strong hate practice
A sublime religion inevitably generates a strong feeling of guilt. There is an unavoidable contrast between loftiness of profession and imperfection of practice. And, as one would expect, the feeling of guilt promotes hate and brazenness. Thus it seems that the more sublime the faith the more virulent the hatred it breeds.
achievement attractive
There are many who find a good alibi far more attractive than an achievement.
real self obvious
The urge to escape our real self is also an urge to escape the rational and the obvious.
art frustration technology
The autonomous individual, striving to realize himself and prove his worth, has created all that is great in literature, art, music, science and technology. The autonomous individual, also, when he can neither realize himself nor justify his existence by his own efforts, is a breeding call of frustration, and the seed of the convulsions which shake our world to its foundations.
conformity clique nonconformist
You rarely find a nonconformist who goes it alone
order growth development
In an adequate social order, the untalented should be able to acquire a sense of usefulness and of growth without interfering with the development of talent around them
engineering important problem
The most troublesome problem which confronts social engineering is how to provide for the untalented and, what is equally important, how to provide against them.
men effort desire
This food-and-shelter theory concerning man's efforts is without insight. The desire for praise is more imperative than the desire for food and shelter