Eric Hoffer

Our originality shows itself most strikingly not in what we wholly originate but in what we do with that which read more

Our originality shows itself most strikingly not in what we wholly originate but in what we do with that which we borrow from others.

Commitment becomes hysterical when those who have nothing to give advocate generosity, and those who have nothing to give up read more

Commitment becomes hysterical when those who have nothing to give advocate generosity, and those who have nothing to give up preach renunciation.

Freedom means freedom from forces and circumstances which would turn man into a thing, which would impose on man the read more

Freedom means freedom from forces and circumstances which would turn man into a thing, which would impose on man the passivity and predictability of matter. By this test, absolute power is the manifestation most inimical to human uniqueness. Absolute power wants to turn people into malleable clay.

It is not actual suffering but a taste of better things which excites people to revolt.

It is not actual suffering but a taste of better things which excites people to revolt.

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.