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Eric Hoffer Quotes - Page 9

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We need not only a purpose in life to give meaning to our existence but also something to give meaning to our suffering. We need as much something to suffer for as something to live for.

We need not only a purpose in life to give meaning to our existence but also something to give meaning to our suffering. We need as much something to suffer for as something to live for.

Life, Giving, Suffering

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

[The designated or chosen leader tries to] articulate and justify the resentment dammed up in the souls of the frustrated. He kindles the vision of a breathtaking future so as to justify the sacrifice of a transitory present. He stages the world of make-believe so indispensable for the realization of self-sacrifice and united action.

Believe, Sacrifice, Self

Source: www.psychologytoday.com

There is a guilty conscience behind every brazen word and act and behind every manifestation of self-righteousness.

Integrity, Humility, Self

Eric Hoffer (1980). “The True Believer”

We are more prone to generalize the bad than the good. We assume that the bad is more potent and contagious.

Assuming, Contagious, Generalization

Where there is the necessary technical skill to move mountains, there is no need for the faith that moves mountains.

Moving, Technology, Skills

1955 The Passionate State of Mind.

It is startling to realize how much unbelief is necessary to make belief possible.

Belief, Realizing, Believer

Eric Hoffer (1980). “The True Believer”

It is a talent of the weak to persuade themselves that they suffer for something when they suffer from something; that they are showing the way when they are running away; that they see the light when they feel the heat; that they are chosen when they are shunned.

Running, Light, Perspective

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

A soul that is reluctant to share does not as a rule have much of its own. Miserliness is here a symptom of meagerness.

Soul, Doe, Misery

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

To dispose a soul to action we must upset its equilibrium.

Justice, Diversity, Soul

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

There is a totalitarian regime inside every one of us. We are ruled by a ruthless politburo which sets our norms and drives us from one five-year plan to another. The autonomous individual who has to justify his existence by his own efforts is in eternal bondage to himself.

Years, Effort, Individuality

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

Laughter to begin with was probably glee at the misfortunes of others. The baring of the teeth in laughter hints at its savage ancestry. Animals have no malice, hence also no laughter. They never savor the sudden glory of Schadenfreude. It was its infectious quality that made of laughter a medium of mutuality.

Laughter, Animal, Quality

Somewhere between the Angels and the French lies the rest of humanity.

Lying, Angel, Humanity

Our achievements speak for themselves. What we have to keep track of are our failures, discouragements and doubts.

Track, Achievement, Doubt

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

The majority prove their worth by keeping busy. A busy life is the nearest thing to a purposeful life.

Majority, Life Is, Busy

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

Every successful person has had failures but repeated failure is no guarantee of eventual success

Failure, Successful, Guarantees

He who has nothing and wants something is less frustrated than he who has something and wants more.

Want Something, Frustrated, Want

Creativity is the ability to introduce order into the randomness of nature.

Creativity, Order, Chaos

No one has a right to happiness.

A man's worth is what he is divided by what he thinks he is.

Men, Thinking, Divided

Eric Hoffer (1979). “Before the Sabbath”, Harpercollins

Failure in the management of practical affairs seems to be a qualification for success in the management of public affairs.

Management, Affair, Qualifications

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

Whoever originated the cliche that money is the root of all evil knew hardly anything about the nature of evil and very little about human beings.

Roots, Evil, Littles

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

The Americans are poor haters in international affairs because of their innate feeling of superiority over all foreigners. An American's hatred for a fellow American is far more virulent than any antipathy he can work up against foreigners. Should Americans begin to hate foreigners wholeheartedly, it will be an indication that they have lost confidence in their own way of life.

Hate, Hatred, Feelings

"The True Believer: Thoughts on the Nature of Mass Movements". Book by Eric Hoffer, 1951.

There can be no mass movement without some deliberate misrepresentation of facts.

Movement, Facts, Misrepresentation

Source: www.psychologytoday.com

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.

Society, Holiness, Causes

Eric Hoffer (1980). “The True Believer”

America is still the best country for the common man -- white or black ... if he can't make it here he won't make it anywhere else.

Country, Men, White

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