Eric Hoffer ( 10 of 253 )
The Americans are poor haters in international affairs because of their innate feeling of superiority over all foreigners. An American's read more
The Americans are poor haters in international affairs because of their innate feeling of superiority over all foreigners. An American's hatred for a fellow American...is far more virulent than any antipathy he can work up against foreigners...Should Americans begin to hate foreigners wholeheartedly, it will be an indication that they have lost confidence in their own way of life.
Nonconformists travel as a rule in bunches. You rarely find a nonconformist who goes it alone. And woe to him read more
Nonconformists travel as a rule in bunches. You rarely find a nonconformist who goes it alone. And woe to him inside a nonconformist clique who does not conform with nonconformity.
It is part of the formidableness of a genuine mass movement that the self-sacrifice it promotes includes also a sacrifice read more
It is part of the formidableness of a genuine mass movement that the self-sacrifice it promotes includes also a sacrifice of some of the moral sense which cramps and restrains our nature.
Take man's most fantastic invention- God. Man invents God in the image of his longings, in the image of what read more
Take man's most fantastic invention- God. Man invents God in the image of his longings, in the image of what he wants to be, then proceeds to imitate that image, vie with it, and strive to overcome it.
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.
You accept certain unlovely things about yourself and manage to live with them. The atonement for such an acceptance is read more
You accept certain unlovely things about yourself and manage to live with them. The atonement for such an acceptance is that you make allowances for others - that you cleanse yourself of the sin of self-righteousness.
There are many who find a good alibi far more attractive than an achievement. For an achievement does not settle read more
There are many who find a good alibi far more attractive than an achievement. For an achievement does not settle anything permanently. We still have to prove our worth anew each day: we have to prove that we are as good today as we were yesterday. But when we have a valid alibi for not achieving anything we are fixed, so to speak, for life. Moreover, when we have an alibi for not writing a book, painting a picture, and so on, we have an alibi for not writing the greatest book and not painting the greatest picture. Small wonder that the effort expended and the punishment endured in obtaining a good alibi often exceed the effort and grief requisite for the attainment of a most marked achievement.
To the creative individual all experience is seminal- all events are equidistant from new ideas and insights...
To the creative individual all experience is seminal- all events are equidistant from new ideas and insights...
Both the revolutionary and the creative individual are perpetual juveniles. The revolutionary does not grow up because he cannot grow, read more
Both the revolutionary and the creative individual are perpetual juveniles. The revolutionary does not grow up because he cannot grow, while the creative individual cannot grow up because he keeps growing.
All leaders strive to turn their followers into children.
All leaders strive to turn their followers into children.
