Eric Hoffer ( 10 of 253 )
We probably have a greater love for those we support than for those who support us. Our vanity carries greater read more
We probably have a greater love for those we support than for those who support us. Our vanity carries greater weight than our self-interest.
It is not at all simple to understand the simple.
It is not at all simple to understand the simple.
The rule seems to be that those who find no difficulty in deceiving themselves are easily deceived by others. They read more
The rule seems to be that those who find no difficulty in deceiving themselves are easily deceived by others. They are easily persuaded and led.
Man is a luxury loving animal. Take away play, fancies, and luxuries, and you will turn man into a dull, read more
Man is a luxury loving animal. Take away play, fancies, and luxuries, and you will turn man into a dull, sluggish creature, barely energetic enough to obtain a bare subsistence. A society becomes stagnant when its people are too rational or too serious to be tempted by baubles.
It has often been said that power corrupts. But it is perhaps equally important to realize that weakness, too, corrupts. read more
It has often been said that power corrupts. But it is perhaps equally important to realize that weakness, too, corrupts. Power corrupts the few, while weakness corrupts the many. Hatred, malice, rudeness, intolerance, and suspicion are the faults of weakness. The resentment of the weak does not spring from any injustice done to them but from their sense of inadequacy and impotence. We cannot win the weak by sharing our wealth with them. They feel our generosity as oppression.
When watching men of power in action it must be always kept in mind that, whether they know it or read more
When watching men of power in action it must be always kept in mind that, whether they know it or not, their main purpose is the elimination or neutralization of the independent individual- the independent voter, consumer, worker, owner, thinker- and that every device they employ aims at turning men into a manipulable "animated instrument" which is Aristotle's definition of a slave.
The nineteenth century planted the words which the twentieth century ripened into the atrocities of Stalin and Hitler. There is read more
The nineteenth century planted the words which the twentieth century ripened into the atrocities of Stalin and Hitler. There is hardly an atrocity committed in the twentieth century that was not foreshadowed or even advocated by some noble man of words in the nineteenth.
When our individual interests and prospects do not seem worth living for, we are in desperate need for something apart read more
When our individual interests and prospects do not seem worth living for, we are in desperate need for something apart from us to live for. All forms of dedication, devotion, loyalty and self-surrender are in essence a desperate clinging to something which might give worth and meaning to our futile, spoiled lives.
The untalented are more at ease in a society that gives them valid alibis for not achieving than in one read more
The untalented are more at ease in a society that gives them valid alibis for not achieving than in one where opportunities are abundant. In an affluent society, the alienated who clamor for power are largely untalented people who cannot make use of the unprecedented opportunities for self-realization, and cannot escape the confrontation with an ineffectual self.
In a trader-dominated society, the scribe is usually kept out of the management of affairs, but it given a more read more
In a trader-dominated society, the scribe is usually kept out of the management of affairs, but it given a more or less free hand in the cultural field. By frustrating the scribe's craving for commanding action, the trader draws upon himself the scribe's wrath and scorn.
