Eric Hoffer ( 10 of 253 )
There is apparently some connection between dissatisfaction with oneself and proneness to credulity. The urge to escape our real self read more
There is apparently some connection between dissatisfaction with oneself and proneness to credulity. The urge to escape our real self is also an urge to escape the rational and the obvious. The refusal to see ourselves as we are develops a distaste for facts and cold logic. There is no hope for the frustrated in the actual and the possible. Salvation can come to them only from the miraculous, which seeps through a crack in the iron wall of inexorable reality. They asked to be deceived.
The real "haves" are they who can acquire freedom, self-confidence, and even riches without depriving others of them. They acquire read more
The real "haves" are they who can acquire freedom, self-confidence, and even riches without depriving others of them. They acquire all of these by developing and applying their potentialities. On the other hand, the real "have nots" are they who cannot have aught except by depriving others of it. They can feel free only by diminishing the freedom of others, self-confident by spreading fear and dependence among others, and rich by making others poor.
All mass movements avail themselves of action as a means of unification. The conflicts a mass movement seeks and incites read more
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.
We run fastest and farthest when we run from ourselves.
We run fastest and farthest when we run from ourselves.
The hatred and cruelty which have their source in selfishness are ineffectual things compared with the venom and ruthlessness born read more
The hatred and cruelty which have their source in selfishness are ineffectual things compared with the venom and ruthlessness born of selflessness.
When people are bored, it is primarily with their own selves that they are bored.
When people are bored, it is primarily with their own selves that they are bored.
It is the pull of opposite poles that stretches souls. And only stretched souls make music.
It is the pull of opposite poles that stretches souls. And only stretched souls make music.
The wise learn from the experience of others, and the creative know how to make a crumb of experience go read more
The wise learn from the experience of others, and the creative know how to make a crumb of experience go a long way.
Absolute power turns its possessors not into a God but an anti-God. For God turned clay into men, while the read more
Absolute power turns its possessors not into a God but an anti-God. For God turned clay into men, while the absolute despot turns men into clay.
It needs fanatical faith to rationalize our cowardice.
It needs fanatical faith to rationalize our cowardice.
