Eric Hoffer ( 10 of 253 )
Children are the keys of paradise.
Children are the keys of paradise.
Kindness can become its own motive. We are made kind by being kind. -Eric Hoffer.
Kindness can become its own motive. We are made kind by being kind. -Eric Hoffer.
It is the child in man that is the source of his uniqueness and creativeness, and the playground is the read more
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 and talents.
There is a powerful craving in most of us to see ourselves as instruments in the hands of others and read more
There is a powerful craving in most of us to see ourselves as instruments in the hands of others and thus free ourselves from the responsibility for acts which are prompted by our own questionable inclinations and impulses. Both the strong and the weak grasp at this alibi. The latter hide their malevolence under the virtue of obedience: they acted dishonorably because they had to obey orders. The strong, too, claim absolution by proclaiming themselves the chosen instrument of a higher power- God, history, fate, nation or humanity.
To have a grievance is to have a purpose in life.
To have a grievance is to have a purpose in life.
What the intellectual craves above all else is to be taken seriously, to be treated as a decisive force in read more
What the intellectual craves above all else is to be taken seriously, to be treated as a decisive force in shaping history. He is far more at home in a society that weighs his every word and keeps close watch on his attitudes then in a society that cares not what he says or does. He would rather be persecuted than ignored.
It seems that when we are oppressed by the knowledge of our worthlessness we do not see ourselves as lower read more
It seems that when we are oppressed by the knowledge of our worthlessness we do not see ourselves as lower than some and higher than others, but as lower than the lowest of mankind. We hate then the whole world, and we would pour our wrath upon the whole of creation.
It is maintained that a society is free only when dissenting minorities have room to throw their weight around. As read more
It is maintained that a society is free only when dissenting minorities have room to throw their weight around. As a matter of fact, 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.
To be fully alive is to feel that everything is possible.
To be fully alive is to feel that everything is possible.
Language was invented to ask questions. Answers may be given by grunts and gestures, but questions must be spoken. Humanness read more
Language was invented to ask questions. Answers may be given by grunts and gestures, but questions must be spoken. Humanness came of age when man asked the first question. Social stagnation results not from a lack of answers but from the absence of the impulse to ask questions.
