Eric Hoffer ( 10 of 253 )
All leaders strive to turn their followers into children.
All leaders strive to turn their followers into children.
The ideal of self-advancement which the civilizing west offers to backward populations brings with it the plague of individual frustration. read more
The ideal of self-advancement which the civilizing west offers to backward populations brings with it the plague of individual frustration. All the advantages brought by the West are ineffectual substitutes for the sheltering and soothing anonymity of communal existence.
The most gifted members of the human species are at their creative best when they cannot have their way, and read more
The most gifted members of the human species are at their creative best when they cannot have their way, and must compensate for what they miss by realizing and cultivating their capacities and talents.
There is in us a tendency to locate the shaping forces of our existence outside ourselves. Success and failure are read more
There is in us a tendency to locate the shaping forces of our existence outside ourselves. Success and failure are unavoidably related in our minds with the state of things around us. Hence it is that people with a sense of fulfillment think it is a good world and would like to preserve it as it is, while the frustrated favor radical change. The tendency to look for all causes outside ourselves persists even when it is clear that our state of being is the product of personal qualities such as ability, character, appearance, health and so on.
Only the individual who has come to terms with his self can have a dispassionate attitude toward the world.
Only the individual who has come to terms with his self can have a dispassionate attitude toward the world.
Though they seem at opposite poles, fanatics of all kinds are actually crowded together at one end. It is the read more
Though they seem at opposite poles, fanatics of all kinds are actually crowded together at one end. It is the fanatic and the moderate who are poles apart and never meet.
Both the revolutionary and the creative individual are perpetual juveniles. The revolutionary does not grow up because he cannot grow, read more
Both the revolutionary and the creative individual are perpetual juveniles. The revolutionary does not grow up because he cannot grow, while the creative individual cannot grow up because he keeps growing.
To spell out the obvious is often to call it in question.
To spell out the obvious is often to call it in question.
The real persuaders are our appetites, our fears and above all our vanity. The skillful propagandist stirs and coaches these read more
The real persuaders are our appetites, our fears and above all our vanity. The skillful propagandist stirs and coaches these internal persuaders.
When people revolt in a totalitarian society, they rise not against the wickedness of the regime but its weakness.
When people revolt in a totalitarian society, they rise not against the wickedness of the regime but its weakness.
