Eric Hoffer ( 10 of 253 )
The compulsion to take ourselves seriously is in inverse proportion to our creative capacity. When the creative flow dries up, read more
The compulsion to take ourselves seriously is in inverse proportion to our creative capacity. When the creative flow dries up, all we have left is our importance.
How much easier is self-sacrifice than self-realization.
How much easier is self-sacrifice than self-realization.
We do not usually look for allies when we love. Indeed, we often look on those who love with us read more
We do not usually look for allies when we love. Indeed, we often look on those who love with us as rivals and trespassers. But we always look for allies when we hate.
There is apparently no surer way of turning a thing into its opposite than by exaggerating it.
There is apparently no surer way of turning a thing into its opposite than by exaggerating it.
The frustrated follow a leader less because of their faith that he is leading them to a promised land than read more
The frustrated follow a leader less because of their faith that he is leading them to a promised land than because of their immediate feeling that he is leading them away from their unwanted selves. Surrender to a leader is not a means to an end but a fulfillment. Whither they are led is of secondary importance.
Whence come these hatreds...? They are an expression of a desperate effort to suppress an awareness of our inadequacy, worthlessness, read more
Whence come these hatreds...? They are an expression of a desperate effort to suppress an awareness of our inadequacy, worthlessness, guilt and other shortcomings of the self. Self-contempt is here transmuted into hatred of others- and there is a most determined and persistent effort to mask this switch.
There is apparently some connection between dissatisfaction with oneself and proneness to credulity. The urge to escape our real self read more
There is apparently some connection between dissatisfaction with oneself and proneness to credulity. The urge to escape our real self is also an urge to escape the rational and the obvious. The refusal to see ourselves as we are develops a distaste for facts and cold logic. There is no hope for the frustrated in the actual and the possible. Salvation can come to them only from the miraculous, which seeps through a crack in the iron wall of inexorable reality. They asked to be deceived.
To be aware how fruitful the playful mood can be is to be immune to the propaganda of the alienated, read more
To be aware how fruitful the playful mood can be is to be immune to the propaganda of the alienated, which extols resentment as a fuel of achievement.
There is apparently no surer way of turning a thing into its opposite than by exaggerating it
There is apparently no surer way of turning a thing into its opposite than by exaggerating it
The Greeks invented logic but were not fooled by it.
The Greeks invented logic but were not fooled by it.
