Eric Hoffer ( 10 of 253 )
It is not at all simple to understand the simple.
It is not at all simple to understand the simple.
In every passionate pursuit, the pursuit counts more than the object pursued.
In every passionate pursuit, the pursuit counts more than the object pursued.
The central task of education is to implant a will and facility for learning; it should produce not learned but read more
The central task of education is to implant a will and facility for learning; it should produce not learned but learning people. The truly human society is a learning society, where grandparents, parents, and children are students together.
Wise living consists perhaps less in acquiring good habits than in acquiring as few habits as possible.
Wise living consists perhaps less in acquiring good habits than in acquiring as few habits as possible.
The wise learn from the experience of others, and the creative know how to make a crumb of experience go read more
The wise learn from the experience of others, and the creative know how to make a crumb of experience go a long way.
Where there is the necessary technical skill to move mountains, there is no need for the faith that moves mountains.
Where there is the necessary technical skill to move mountains, there is no need for the faith that moves mountains.
In the alchemy of man's soul almost all noble attributes- courage, honor, love, hope, faith, duty, loyalty, and so on- read more
In the alchemy of man's soul almost all noble attributes- courage, honor, love, hope, faith, duty, loyalty, and so on- can be transmuted into ruthlessness. Compassion alone stands apart from the continuous traffic between good and evil proceeding within us. Compassion is the antitoxin of the soul: where there is compassion, even the most poisonous impulses remain relatively harmless.
Discontent is likely to be highest when misery is bearable; when conditions have so improved that an ideal state seems read more
Discontent is likely to be highest when misery is bearable; when conditions have so improved that an ideal state seems almost within reach. A grievance is most poignant when almost redressed. De Tocqueville in his researches into the state of society in France before the revolution was struck by the discovery that "in no one of the periods which have followed the Revolution of 1789 has the national prosperity of France augmented more rapidly than it did in the twenty years preceding that event." He is forced to conclude that "the French found their position the more intolerable the better it became.
However different the holy causes people die for, they perhaps die basically for the same thing.
However different the holy causes people die for, they perhaps die basically for the same thing.
Those of little faith are of little hatred.
Those of little faith are of little hatred.
