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
society holiness causes
The fanatic is not really a stickler to principle. He embraces a cause not primarily because of its justness or holiness but because of his desperate need for something to hold onto.
acceptance diagnosis causes
To find the cause of our ills in something outside ourselves, something specific that can be spotted and eliminated, is a diagnosis that cannot fail to appeal. To say that the cause of our troubles is not in us but in the Jews , and pass immediately to the extermination of the Jews, is a prescription likely to find a wide acceptance.
race leader causes
Whenever we proclaim the uniqueness of a religion , a truth , a leader, a nation, a race, a part or a holy cause, we are also proclaiming our own uniqueness.
frustration opportunity causes
Unlimited opportunities can be as potent a cause of frustration as a paucity or lack of opportunities.
ideas firsts causes
First something is a great idea, then it becomes a cause, then it becomes a business and finally it becomes a racket.
people holiness causes
However different the holy causes people die for, they perhaps die basically for the same thing.
causes opinion holy
We can be satisfied with moderate confidence in ourselves and with a moderately good opinion of ourselves, but the faith we have in a holy cause has to be extravagant and uncompromising.
corrupts destroy hate injustice power resentment spring weakness wherever wickedness
Power corrupts the few, while weakness corrupts the many. The resentment of the weak does not spring from any injustice done to them but from the sense of their inadequacy and impotence. They hate not wickedness but weakness. When it is in their power to do so, the weak destroy weakness wherever they see it.
america cannot hurry leisure needs nor people perpetual preserved result state
The superficiality of the American is the result of his hustling. It needs leisure to think things out; it needs leisure to mature. People in a hurry cannot think, cannot grow, nor can they decay. They are preserved in a state of perpetual puerility.
imitation rudeness strength weak
Rudeness is the weak man's imitation of strength
attitude extreme flight self
Every extreme attitude is a flight from the self
bankruptcy hope sort soul
Disappointment is a sort of bankruptcy -- the bankruptcy of a soul that expends too much in hope and expectation.
beside character figure figured name quality rest worried
I wasn't worried about typecasting - I thought I'd figure that out down the road. I figured that, with the quality of the show, Will was going to be my epitaph. It was more about ""Is this the one character I want beside my name for the rest of eternity?
easier humanity love neighbor
It is easier to love humanity than to love your neighbor