Eric Hoffer ( 10 of 253 )
When people are fee to do as they please, they usually imitate each other. Originality is deliberate and forced, and read more
When people are fee to do as they please, they usually imitate each other. Originality is deliberate and forced, and partakes of the nature of a protest.
The desire to be different from the people we live with is sometimes the result of our rejection- real or read more
The desire to be different from the people we live with is sometimes the result of our rejection- real or imagined- by them.
The impression somehow prevails that the true believer, particularly the religious individual, is a humble person. The truth is that read more
The impression somehow prevails that the true believer, particularly the religious individual, is a humble person. The truth is that the surrendering and humbling of the self breeds pride and arrogance.
Discontent is likely to be highest when misery is bearable; when conditions have so improved that an ideal state seems read more
Discontent is likely to be highest when misery is bearable; when conditions have so improved that an ideal state seems almost within reach. A grievance is most poignant when almost redressed. De Tocqueville in his researches into the state of society in France before the revolution was struck by the discovery that "in no one of the periods which have followed the Revolution of 1789 has the national prosperity of France augmented more rapidly than it did in the twenty years preceding that event." He is forced to conclude that "the French found their position the more intolerable the better it became.
It is the awareness of unfulfilled desires which gives a nation the feeling that it has a mission and a read more
It is the awareness of unfulfilled desires which gives a nation the feeling that it has a mission and a destiny.
How frighteningly few are the persons whose death would spoil our appetite and make the world seem empty.
How frighteningly few are the persons whose death would spoil our appetite and make the world seem empty.
We often use strong language not to express a powerful emotion but to evoke it in us.
We often use strong language not to express a powerful emotion but to evoke it in us.
The individual's most vital need is to prove his worth, and this usually means an insatiable hunger for action. For read more
The individual's most vital need is to prove his worth, and this usually means an insatiable hunger for action. For it is only the few who can acquire a sense of worth by developing and employing their capacities and talents. The majority prove their worth by keeping busy.
To know a person's religion we need not listen to his profession of faith but must find his brand of read more
To know a person's religion we need not listen to his profession of faith but must find his brand of intolerance.
...passionate intensity may serve as a substitute for confidence.
...passionate intensity may serve as a substitute for confidence.
