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Eric Hoffer Quotes - Page 16

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The purpose of philosophers is to show people what is right under their noses.

The purpose of philosophers is to show people what is right under their noses.

People, Purpose, Noses

Resistance, whether to one's appetites or to the ways of the world, is a chief factor in the shaping of character.

Character, World, Way

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

The self-despisers are less intent on their own increase than on the diminution of others. Where self-esteem is unobtainable, envy takes the place of greed.

Bullying, Self Esteem, Envy

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

It seems that when we are oppressed by the knowledge of our worthlessness we do not see ourselves as lower than some and higher than others, but as lower than the lowest of mankind. We hate then the whole world, and we would pour our wrath upon the whole of creation.

Hate, Wrath, World

Eric Hoffer (1980). “The True Believer”

In running away from ourselves we either fall on our neighbor's shoulder or fly at his throat.

Running, Fall, Anxiety

Eric Hoffer (2011). “The True Believer: Thoughts on the Nature of Mass Movements”, p.14, Harper Collins

To wrong those we hate is to add fuel to our hatred. Conversely, to treat an enemy with magnanimity is to blunt our hatred for him.

Hate, Hatred, Enemy

Eric Hoffer (1980). “The True Believer”

Help your sister's boat across the water, and yours too will reach the other side. Kindness can become its own motive. We are made kind by being kind.

Kindness, Helping Others, Water

Man's chief goal in life is still to become and stay human, and defend his achievements against the encroachment of nature.

Nature, Men, Goal

A plant needs roots in order to grow. With man it is the other way around: only when he grows does he have roots and feels at home in the world.

Home, Men, Order

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

All mass movements avail themselves of action as a means of unification. The conflicts a mass movement seeks and incites serve not only to down its enemies but also to strip its followers of their distinct individuality and render them more soluble in the collective medium.

Mean, Individuality, Enemy

Eric Hoffer (1980). “The True Believer”

The aspiration toward freedom is the most essentially human of all human manifestations.

Liberty, Aspiration, Manifestation

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

Free men are aware of the imperfection inherent in human affairs, and they are willing to fight and die for that which is not perfect.

Fighting, Men, Perfect

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

Mass movements do not usually rise until the prevailing order has been discredited.

Order, Movement, Prevailing

Source: www.psychologytoday.com

The fanatical Communist refuses to believe any unfavorable report or evidence about Russia, nor will he be disillusioned by seeing with his own eyes the cruel misery inside the Soviet promised land. It is the true believer's ability to "shut his eyes and stop his ears" to facts that do not deserve to be either seen or heard which is the source of his unequaled fortitude and constancy. He cannot be frightened by danger, nor disheartened by obstacles, nor baffled by contradictions because he denies their existence.

Believe, Eye, Russia

Source: www.psychologytoday.com

What are we when we are alone? Some, when they are alone, cease to exist.

Cease

The chemistry of dissatisfaction is as the chemistry of some marvelously potent tar. In it are the building stones of explosives, stimulants, poisons, opiates, perfumes and stenches.

Feelings, Opiates, Poison

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

The world leans on us. When we sag, the whole world seems to droop.

Depression, Literature, World

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

The necessary has never been man's top priority. The passionate pursuit of the nonessential and the extravagant is one of the chief traits of human uniqueness. Unlike other forms of life, man's greatest exertions are made in the pursuit not of necessities but of superfluities.

Life, Men, Priorities

In human affairs every solution serves only to sharpen the problem, to show us more clearly what we are up against. There are no final solutions.

Finals, Problem, Affair

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

There is a grandeur in the uniformity of the mass. When a fashion, a dance, a song, a slogan or a joke sweeps like wildfire from one end of the continent to the other, and a hundred million people roar with laughter, sway their bodies in unison, hum one song or break forth in anger and denunciation, there is the overpowering feeling that in this country we have come nearer the brotherhood of man than ever before.

Country, Fashion, Song

When we debunk a fanatical faith or prejudice, we do not strike at the root of fanaticism. We merely prevent its leaking out at a certain point, with the likely result that it will leak out at some other point.

Roots, Prejudice, Results

Source: www.psychologytoday.com

Fear comes from uncertainty. When we are absolutely certain, whether of our worth or worthlessness, we are almost impervious to fear. Thus a feeling of utter unworthiness can be a source of courage.

Courage, Fear, Feelings

For men to plunge headlong into an undertaking of vast change, they must be intensely discontented yet not destitute, and they must have the feeling that by the possession of some potent doctrine, infallible leader or some new technique they have access to a source of irresistible power.

Men, Leader, Feelings

Source: www.psychologytoday.com

Sometimes we feel the loss of a prejudice as a loss of vigor.

Loss, Prejudice, Vigor

It is part of the formidableness of a genuine mass movement that the self-sacrifice it promotes includes also a sacrifice of some of the moral sense, which cramps and restrains our nature.

Sacrifice, Self, Movement

Eric Hoffer (1980). “The True Believer”

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