Eric Hoffer ( 10 of 253 )
We cannot hate those who we despise.
We cannot hate those who we despise.
It needs fanatical faith to rationalize our cowardice.
It needs fanatical faith to rationalize our cowardice.
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.
Rudeness is the weak man's imitation of strength.
Rudeness is the weak man's imitation of strength.
All prayers and hopes are a reaching-out for coincidences.
All prayers and hopes are a reaching-out for coincidences.
A war is not won if the defeated enemy has not been turned into a friend.
A war is not won if the defeated enemy has not been turned into a friend.
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.
One of the surprising privileges of intellectuals is that they are free to be scandalously asinine without harming their reputations.
One of the surprising privileges of intellectuals is that they are free to be scandalously asinine without harming their reputations.
The compulsion to take ourselves seriously is in inverse proportion to our creative capacity. When the creative flow dries up, read more
The compulsion to take ourselves seriously is in inverse proportion to our creative capacity. When the creative flow dries up, all we have left is our importance.
The chief burden of the frustrated is the consciousness of a blemished, ineffectual self, and their chief desire is to read more
The chief burden of the frustrated is the consciousness of a blemished, ineffectual self, and their chief desire is to slough off the unwanted self and begin a new life. They try to realize this desire either by finding a new identity or by blurring and camouflaging their individual distinctness; and both these ends are reached by imitation.
