Eric Hoffer Quotes

Whenever we proclaim the uniqueness of a religion , a truth , a leader, a nation, a race, a part or a holy cause, we are also proclaiming our own uniqueness.

Those who are in love with the present can be cruel and corrupt but not genuinely vicious. They cannot be methodically and consistently ruthless.

The conservatism of a religion - it's orthodoxy - is the inert coagulum of a once highly reactive sap.

Successful action tends to become an end in itself.

There is a perfect ant, a perfect bee, but man is perpetually unfinished...Moreover, the incurable unfinishedness keeps man perpetually immature, perpetually capable of learning and growing.

To the creative individual all experience is seminal-all events are equidistant from new ideasand insights.

Mass movements do not usually rise until the prevailing order has been discredited.

Where unity and self-sacrifice are indispensable for the normal functioning of society, everyday life is likely to be either religiofied (common tasks turned into holy causes) or militarized.

Every great cause begins as a movement, becomes a business, and eventually degenerates into a racket.

We are told that talent creates its own opportunities. But it sometimes seems that intense desire creates not only its own opportunities but its own talents.

Hatred is the most accessible and comprehensive of all the unifying agents. Mass movements can rise and spread without belief in a god, but never without a belief in a devil.

In a time of drastic change it is the learners who inherit the future. The learned usually find themselves equipped to live in a world that no longer exists.

Anger is the prelude to courage.

In times of change, learners inherit the earth, while the learned find themselves beautifully equipped to deal with a world that no longer exists.

Kindness can become its own motive. We are made kind by being kind.

Hope was never meant to beA future shared alone, As life cannot be won or lostIt was never ours to own.

Know yourself, not a face, in love, a deeper grace.

Is it not enough to shine, To know that friends are true?That love is born of friendship, And who you are is you?

Spread your wings. Fly as far to know who you are.

We lie the loudest when we lie to ourselves.

If free enterprise becomes a proselytizing holy cause, it will be a sign that its workability and advantages have ceased to be self-evident.

In a world of change, the learners shall inherit the earth, while the learned shall find themselves perfectly suited for a world that no longer exists.

Every great cause begins as a movement, becomes a business, and turns into a racket.

Rudeness is the weak man's imitation of strength.

The less justified a man is in claiming excellence for his own self, the more ready he is to claim all excellence for his nation, his religion, his race or his holy cause.

When people are bored, it is primarily with their own selves that they are bored.

Every new adjustment is a crisis in self-esteem.

Treasure the memories of past misfortunes they constitute our bank of fortitude.

The genuine artist is as much a dissatisfied person as the revolutionary yet how diametrically opposed are the products each distills from his dissatisfaction.

When people are bored it is primarily with their own selves.

When people are bored it is primarily with their own selves that they are bored.

It is thus with most of us we are what other people say we are. We know ourselves chiefly by hearsay.

It is a perplexing and unpleasant truth that when men already have 'something worth fighting for' they do not feel like fighting.

It is the child in man that is the source of his uniqueness and creativeness and the playground is the optimal milieu for the unfolding of his capacities.

It is often the failure who is the pioneer in new lands new undertakings and new forms of expression.

Faith is primarily a process of identification the process by which the individual ceases to be himself and becomes part of something eternal.

Fear comes from uncertainty. When we are absolutely certain whether of our worth or worthlessness we are almost impervious to fear. Thus a feeling of utter unworthiness can be a source of courage.

We do not really feel grateful toward those who make our dreams come true they ruin our dreams.

It is the around-the-corner brand of hope that prompts people to action while the distant hope acts as an opiate.

When people are free to do as they please they usually imitate each other.

There is a radicalism in all getting and a conservatism in all keeping. Lovemaking is radical while marriage is conservative.

We are told that talent creates its own opportunities. But it sometimes seems that intense desire creates not only its own opportunities but its own talents.

When people are free to do as they please they usually imitate each other. Originality is deliberate and forced and partakes of the nature of a protest.

Fear is uncertainty.

People in a hurry cannot think cannot grow nor can they decay. They are preserved in a state of perpetual puerility.

However much we guard against it we tend to shape ourselves in the image others have of us.

The poor on the borderline of starvation live purposeful lives. To be engaged in a desperate struggle for food and shelter is to be wholly free from a sense of futility.

Power corrupts the few while weakness corrupts the many.

Not actual suffering but the hope of better things incites people to revolt.

To believe that if only we had this or that we would be happy or to pursue any excessive desire diverts us from seeing that happiness depends on an adequate self.