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
selfish passion exercise
There is in even the most selfish passion a large element of self-abnegation. It is startling to realize that what we call extreme self-seeking is actually self-renunciation. The miser, health addict, glory chaser and their like are not far behind the selfless in the exercise of self-sacrifice.
passionate pursuit pursued
In every passionate pursuit, the pursuit counts more than the object pursued.
mind passionate connections
There is a close connection between lack of confidence and the passionate state of mind.
may passionate substitutes
Passionate intensity may serve as a substitute for confidence.
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.
animal passionate machines
Animals often strike us as passionate machines.
passion inferiority thread
The passion for equality is partly a passion for anonymity: to be one thread of the many which make up a tunic; one thread not distinguishable from the others. No one can then point us out, measure us against others and expose our inferiority.
passion action mark
One of the marks of a truly vigorous society is the ability to dispense with passion as a midwife of action - the ability to pass directly from thought to action.
passion self desire
A mass movement attracts and holds a following not because it can satisfy the desire for self-advancement, but because it can satisfy the passion for self-renunciation.
passion sometimes born
The passion to get ahead is sometimes born of the fear lest we be left behind.
passion shrinking literature
There is in most passions a shrinking away from ourselves. The passionate pursuer has all the earmarks of a fugitive.
real passion liberty
Where freedom is real, equality is the passion of the masses. Where equality is real, freedom is the passion of a small minority.
world passionate obsession
A passionate obsession with the outside world or the private lives of others is an attempt to compensate for a lack of meaning in one's own life
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.