Eric Hoffer
Eric Hoffer
Eric Hofferwas an American moral and social philosopher. He was the author of ten books and was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom in February 1983. His first book, The True Believer, was widely recognized as a classic, receiving critical acclaim from both scholars and laymen, although Hoffer believed that The Ordeal of Change was his finest work...
NationalityAmerican
ProfessionWriter
Date of Birth25 July 1902
CountryUnited States of America
Eric Hoffer quotes about
life wise wisdom
Wise living consists perhaps less in acquiring good habits than in acquiring as few habits as possible.
cutting people elements
There is probably an element of malice in our readiness to overestimate people - we are, as it were, laying up for ourselves the pleasure of later cutting them down to size.
death real believe
There is need for some kind of make-believe in order to face death unflinchingly. To our real, naked selves there is not a thing on earth or in heaven worth dying for.
humility pride substitution
Humility is not renunciation of pride but the substitution of one pride for another.
promise population action
There is nothing more explosive than a skilled population condemned to inaction. Such a population is likely to become a hotbed of extremism and intolerance, and be receptive to any proselytizing ideology, however absurd and vicious, which promises vast action.
integrity balance taste
Without a sense of proportion there can be neither good taste nor genuine intelligence, nor perhaps moral integrity.
radicalism economy radical
Radicalism itself ceases to be radical when absorbed mainly in preserving its control over a society or an economy.
children savages remember
Children, savages and true believers remember far less what they have seen than what they have heard.
want satisfaction enough
We can never have enough of that which we do not want.
want substitutes pursue
Often, the thing we pursue most passionately is but a substitute for the one thing we really want and cannot have.
frustrated communism communist
Communists are frustrated capitalists.
finals problem affair
In human affairs every solution serves only to sharpen the problem, to show us more clearly what we are up against. There are no final solutions.
passion sometimes born
The passion to get ahead is sometimes born of the fear lest we be left behind.
depression world seems
The world leans on us. When we sag, the whole world seems to droop.