Eric Hoffer

To have a grievance is to have a purpose in life.

To have a grievance is to have a purpose in life.

Self-righteousness is a loud din raised to drown the voice of guilt within us.

Self-righteousness is a loud din raised to drown the voice of guilt within us.

Religion is not a matter of God, church, holy cause, etc. These are but accessories. The source of religious preoccupation read more

Religion is not a matter of God, church, holy cause, etc. These are but accessories. The source of religious preoccupation is in the self, or rather the rejection of the self. Dedication is the obverse side of self-rejection. Man alone is a religious animal because, as Montaigne points out, "it is a malady confined to man, and not seen in any other creature, to hate and despise ourselves.".

There is perhaps no better way of measuring the natural endowment of a soul than by its ability to transmute read more

There is perhaps no better way of measuring the natural endowment of a soul than by its ability to transmute dissatisfaction into a creative impulse. The genuine artist is as much a dissatisfied person as the revolutionary, yet how diametrically opposed are the products each distills from his dissatisfaction.

We have perhaps a natural fear of ends. We would rather be always on the way than arrive. Given the read more

We have perhaps a natural fear of ends. We would rather be always on the way than arrive. Given the means, we hang on to them and often forget the ends.