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
frustration confusion want
Our frustration is greater when we have much and want more than when we have nothing and want some. We are less dissatisfied when we lack many things than when we seem to lack but one thing.
loneliness failure being-alone
There is no loneliness greater than the loneliness of a failure. The failure is a stranger in his own house.
belief realizing believer
It is startling to realize how much unbelief is necessary to make belief possible.
respect gratitude hands
People who bite the hand that feeds them usually lick the boot that kicks them.
soul doe misery
A soul that is reluctant to share does not as a rule have much of its own. Miserliness is here a symptom of meagerness.
movement corporations racket
What starts out here as a mass movement ends up as a racket, a cult, or a corporation.
self trying ethics
The capacity for getting along with our neighbor depends to a large extent on the capacity for getting along with ourselves. The self-respecting individual will try to be as tolerant of his neighbor's shortcomings as he is of his own.
liberty majority minorities
A dissenting minority feels free only when it can impose its will on the majority: what it abominates most is the dissent of the majority.
woe doe conformity
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.
children knowledge grandparent
The central task of education is to implant a will and facility for learning; it should produce not learned but learning people. The truly human society is a learning society, where grandparents, parents, and children are students together.
tomorrow terrorism terror
Death has but one terror, that it has no tomorrow.
life hate giving
Passionate hatred can give meaning and purpose to an empty life.
atheist religion atheism
To know a person's religion we need not listen to his profession of faith but must find his brand of intolerance.
humor deep-thought degenerates
Every great cause begins as a movement, becomes a business, and eventually degenerates into a racket.