Eric Hoffer ( 10 of 253 )
The ideal of self-advancement which the civilizing west offers to backward populations brings with it the plague of individual frustration. read more
The ideal of self-advancement which the civilizing west offers to backward populations brings with it the plague of individual frustration. All the advantages brought by the West are ineffectual substitutes for the sheltering and soothing anonymity of communal existence.
People who bite the hand that feeds them usually lick the boot that kicks them.
People who bite the hand that feeds them usually lick the boot that kicks them.
Only the individual who has come to terms with his self can have a dispassionate attitude toward the world.
Only the individual who has come to terms with his self can have a dispassionate attitude toward the world.
Where things have not changed at all, there is the least likelihood of revolution.
Where things have not changed at all, there is the least likelihood of revolution.
Propaganda does not deceive people; it merely helps them to deceive themselves.
Propaganda does not deceive people; it merely helps them to deceive themselves.
A man is likely to mind his own business when it is worth minding. When it is not, he takes read more
A man is likely to mind his own business when it is worth minding. When it is not, he takes his mind off his own meaningless affairs by minding other people's business.This minding of other people's business expresses itself in gossip, snooping and meddling, and also in feverish interest in communal, national and racial affairs. In running away from ourselves we either fall on our neighbor's shoulder or fly at his throat.
When we leave people on their own, we are delivering them into the hands of a ruthless taskmaster from whose read more
When we leave people on their own, we are delivering them into the hands of a ruthless taskmaster from whose bondage there is no escape. The individual who has to justify his existence by his own efforts is in eternal bondage to himself.
There is in us a tendency to locate the shaping forces of our existence outside ourselves. Success and failure are read more
There is in us a tendency to locate the shaping forces of our existence outside ourselves. Success and failure are unavoidably related in our minds with the state of things around us. Hence it is that people with a sense of fulfillment think it is a good world and would like to preserve it as it is, while the frustrated favor radical change. The tendency to look for all causes outside ourselves persists even when it is clear that our state of being is the product of personal qualities such as ability, character, appearance, health and so on.
All leaders strive to turn their followers into children.
All leaders strive to turn their followers into children.
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.
