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Eric Hoffer Quotes

All Quotes Acceptance Achievement Age Ambition Anxiety Art Atheism Atheist Attitude Awareness Balance Belief Business Change Character Children Communism Compassion Conformity Conservatism Country Creativity Death Deception Dedication Desire Destiny Devil Diversity Doubt Dying Education Effort Energy Environment Envy Equality Evil Excellence Experience Failure Faith Fashion Fate Fear Feelings Fighting Freedom Frustration Future Generosity Giving Glory Growing Up Growth Happiness Hate Hatred Heart History Home Hope Humanity Humility Hunger Ignorance Impulse Independence Individuality Inspirational Integrity Judging Justice Kindness Knowledge Language Laughter Leadership Learning Liberty Life Literature Loneliness Love Loyalty Lying Manifestation Motivational Nature Opportunity Originality Overcoming Passion Past Philosophy Power Prejudice Pride Propaganda Prophet Protest Purpose Quality Reality Reflection Rejection Religion Resentment Respect Responsibility Righteousness Running Sacrifice Sadness Self Confidence Self Esteem Self Respect Sin Society Soul Spring Success Suffering Talent Teaching Technology Time Tolerance Truth Unity Vision Water Weakness Winning Wisdom Work Writing Youth

When we lose our individual independence in the corporateness of a mass movement, we find a new freedom — freedom to hate, bully, lie, torture, murder and betray without shame and remorse.

When we lose our individual independence in the corporateness of a mass movement, we find a new freedom — freedom to hate, bully, lie, torture, murder and betray without shame and remorse.

Lying, Hate, Bully

Eric Hoffer (1980). “The True Believer”

Propaganda ... serves more to justify ourselves than to convince others; and the more reason we have to feel guilty, the more fervent our propaganda.

Guilty, Reason, Propaganda

Eric Hoffer (1980). “The True Believer”

There are many who find a good alibi far more attractive than an achievement. For an achievement does not settle anything permanently. We still have to prove our worth anew each day; we have to prove that we are as good today as we were yesterday. But when we have a valid alibi for not achieving anything we are fixed, so to speak, for life.

Yesterday, Achievement, Doe

Eric Hoffer (1982). “Between the Devil and the Dragon: The Best Essays and Aphorisms of Eric Hoffer”, HarperCollins Publishers

In a modern society people can live without hope only when kept dazed and out of breath by incessant hustling.

Faith, People, Balance

Eric Hoffer (2011). “The True Believer: Thoughts on the Nature of Mass Movements”, p.15, Harper Collins

The rule seems to be that those who find no difficulty in deceiving themselves are easily deceived by others. They are easily persuaded and led.

Society, Deceiving, Deceived

Eric Hoffer (1982). “Between the Devil and the Dragon: The Best Essays and Aphorisms of Eric Hoffer”, HarperCollins Publishers

Passionate hatred can give meaning and purpose to an empty life.

Life, Hate, Giving

Eric Hoffer (1951). “The True Believer: Thoughts on the Nature of Mass Movements”, New York : Harper

Self-righteousness is a manifestation of self-contempt.

Self, Righteousness, Manifestation

Eric Hoffer (1963). “The Ordeal of Change”

I can never forget that one of the most gifted, best educated nations in the world, of its own free will, surrendered its fate into the hands of a maniac.

Fate, Hands, Tyrants

Eric Hoffer (1969). “Working and Thinking on the Waterfront: A Journal, June 1958-May 1959”

It has often been said that power corrupts. But it is perhaps equally important to realize that weakness, too, corrupts. Power corrupts the few, while weakness corrupts the many. Hatred, malice, rudeness, intolerance, and suspicion are the faults of weakness. The resentment of the weak does not spring from any injustice done to them but from their sense of inadequacy and impotence. We cannot win the weak by sharing our wealth with them. They feel our generosity as oppression.

Spring, Winning, Power

"The Passionate State Of Mind, and Other Aphorisms". Book by Eric Hoffer. Section 42, 1955.

Rudeness is a weak imitation of strength.

Attitude, Political, Glitter

All mass movements strive, therefore, to interpose a fact-proof screen between the faithful and the realities of the world. They do this by claiming that the ultimate and absolute truth is already embodied in their doctrine and that there is no truth nor certitude outside it. The facts on which the true believer bases his conclusions must not be derived from his experience or observation but from holy writ.

Reality, Faithful, Doctrine

Eric Hoffer (1982). “Between the Devil and the Dragon: The Best Essays and Aphorisms of Eric Hoffer”, HarperCollins Publishers

Far more critical than what we know or what we don't know is what we don't want to know.

Want, Critical, Knows

You can discover what your enemy fears most by observing the means he uses to frighten you.

Clever, Fear, Halloween

Eric Hoffer (1955). “The passionate state of mind, and other aphorisms”

The hardest arithmetic to master is that which enables us to count our blessings.

Thank You, Thankful, Gratitude

"Reflections on the Human Condition" by Eric Hoffer, (Section 172), 1973.

Propaganda does not deceive people; it merely helps them to deceive themselves.

Hype, People, Doe

Eric Hoffer (1996). “The Passionate State of Mind”

The hardest thing to cope with is not selfishness or vanity or deceitfulness, but sheer stupidity.

Vanity, Stupidity, Selfishness

Eric Hoffer (1996). “The Passionate State of Mind”

No matter how noble the objectives of a government, if it blurs decency and kindness, cheapens human life, and breeds ill will and suspicion; it is an evil government.

Kindness, Government, Ill Will

Eric Hoffer (1996). “The Passionate State of Mind”

One of the surprising privileges of intellectuals is that they are free to be scandalously asinine without harming their reputations.

Society, Privilege, Reputation

Eric Hoffer (1982). “Between the Devil and the Dragon: The Best Essays and Aphorisms of Eric Hoffer”, HarperCollins Publishers

Charlatanism of some degree is indispensable to effective leadership.

Leadership, Work, Degrees

Eric Hoffer (1980). “The True Believer”

The future belongs to the learners-not the knowers.

Learners

Fair play with others is primarily the practice of not blaming them for anything that is wrong with us. We tend to rub our guilty conscience against others the way we wipe dirty fingers on a rag. This is as evil a misuse of others as the practice of exploitation.

Dirty, Practice, Play

Eric Hoffer (1982). “Between the Devil and the Dragon: The Best Essays and Aphorisms of Eric Hoffer”, HarperCollins Publishers

It is by its promise of a sense of power that evil often attracts the weak.

Power, Evil, Promise

Eric Hoffer (1996). “The Passionate State of Mind”

An empty head is not really empty; it is stuffed with rubbish. Hence the difficulty of forcing anything into an empty head.

Inspirational, Funny, Education

"Reflections on the Human Condition" by Eric Hoffer, (Section 49), 1973.

Nature has no compassion. Nature accepts no excuses and the only punishment it knows is death.

Nature, Compassion, Punishment

Eric Hoffer (1982). “Between the Devil and the Dragon: The Best Essays and Aphorisms of Eric Hoffer”, HarperCollins Publishers

For many people, an excuse is better than an achievement because an achievement, no matter how great, leaves you having to prove yourself again in the future; but an excuse can last for life.

Failure, People, Achievement

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