Eric Hoffer ( 10 of 253 )
Those who lack the capacity to achieve much in an atmosphere of freedom will clamor for power.
Those who lack the capacity to achieve much in an atmosphere of freedom will clamor for power.
Faith, enthusiasm, and passionate intensity in general are substitutes for the self-confidence born of experience and the possession of skill. read more
Faith, enthusiasm, and passionate intensity in general are substitutes for the self-confidence born of experience and the possession of skill. Where there is the necessary skill to move mountains there is no need for the faith that moves mountains.
The awareness of their individual blemishes and shortcomings inclines the frustrated to detect ill will and meanness in their fellow read more
The awareness of their individual blemishes and shortcomings inclines the frustrated to detect ill will and meanness in their fellow men. Self-contempt, however vague, sharpens our eyes for the imperfections of others. We usually strive to reveal in others the blemishes we hide in ourselves.
We know that words cannot move mountains, but they can move the multitude; and men are more ready to fight read more
We know that words cannot move mountains, but they can move the multitude; and men are more ready to fight and die for a word than for anything else. Words shape thought, stir feeling, and beget action; they kill and revive, corrupt and cure. The "men-of-words"- priests, prophets, intellectuals- have played a more decisive role in history than military leaders, statesmen, and businessmen.
Our originality shows itself most strikingly not in what we wholly originate but in what we do with that which read more
Our originality shows itself most strikingly not in what we wholly originate but in what we do with that which we borrow from others.
The greatest weariness comes from work not done.
The greatest weariness comes from work not done.
It is a juvenile notion that a society needs a lofty purpose and a shining vision to achieve much. Both read more
It is a juvenile notion that a society needs a lofty purpose and a shining vision to achieve much. Both in the marketplace and on the battlefield men who set their hearts on toys have often displayed unequal initiative and drive. And one must be ignorant of the creative process to look for a close correspondence between motive and achievement in the world of thought and imagination.
Rudeness luxuriates in the absence of self-respect.
Rudeness luxuriates in the absence of self-respect.
Faith in a holy cause is to a considerable extent a substitute for the lost faith in ourselves.
Faith in a holy cause is to a considerable extent a substitute for the lost faith in ourselves.
The great crimes of the twentieth century were committed not by money-grubbing capitalists but by dedicated idealists. Lenin, Stalin, and read more
The great crimes of the twentieth century were committed not by money-grubbing capitalists but by dedicated idealists. Lenin, Stalin, and Hitler were contemptuous of money. The passage from the nineteenth to the twentieth century has been a passage from considerations of money to considerations of power. How naive the cliche that money is the root of evil!
