Eric Hoffer ( 10 of 253 )
How frighteningly few are the persons whose death would spoil our appetite and make the world seem empty.
How frighteningly few are the persons whose death would spoil our appetite and make the world seem empty.
It is the awareness of unfulfilled desires which gives a nation the feeling that it has a mission and a read more
It is the awareness of unfulfilled desires which gives a nation the feeling that it has a mission and a destiny.
The taint inherent in absolute power is not its inhumanity but its antihumanity.
The taint inherent in absolute power is not its inhumanity but its antihumanity.
We have rudiments of reverence for the human body, but we consider as nothing the rape of the human mind.
We have rudiments of reverence for the human body, but we consider as nothing the rape of the human mind.
People unfit for freedom - who cannot do much with it - are hungry for power. The desire for freedom read more
People unfit for freedom - who cannot do much with it - are hungry for power. The desire for freedom is an attribute of a "have" type of self. It says: leave me alone and I shall grow, learn, and realize my capacities. The desire for power is basically an attribute of a "have not" type of self.
The capacity for getting along with our neighbor depends to a large extent on the capacity for getting along with read more
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.
What monstrosities would walk the streets were some people's faces as unfinished as their minds.
What monstrosities would walk the streets were some people's faces as unfinished as their minds.
The most effective way to silence our guilty conscience is to convince ourselves and others that those we have sinned read more
The most effective way to silence our guilty conscience is to convince ourselves and others that those we have sinned against are indeed depraved creatures, deserving every punishment, even extermination. We cannot pity those we have wronged, nor can we be indifferent toward them. We must hate and persecute them or else leave the door open to self-contempt.
The desire to belong is partly a desire to lose oneself.
The desire to belong is partly a desire to lose oneself.
It would be difficult to exaggerate the degree to which we are influenced by those we influence.
It would be difficult to exaggerate the degree to which we are influenced by those we influence.
