Eric Hoffer ( 10 of 253 )
In a trader-dominated society, the scribe is usually kept out of the management of affairs, but it given a more read more
In a trader-dominated society, the scribe is usually kept out of the management of affairs, but it given a more or less free hand in the cultural field. By frustrating the scribe's craving for commanding action, the trader draws upon himself the scribe's wrath and scorn.
A war is not won if the defeated enemy has not been turned into a friend.
A war is not won if the defeated enemy has not been turned into a friend.
When the weak want to give an impression of strength they hint menacingly at their capacity for evil. It is read more
When the weak want to give an impression of strength they hint menacingly at their capacity for evil. It is by its promise of a sense of power that evil often attracts the weak.
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.
The untalented are more at ease in a society that gives them valid alibis for not achieving than in one read more
The untalented are more at ease in a society that gives them valid alibis for not achieving than in one where opportunities are abundant. In an affluent society, the alienated who clamor for power are largely untalented people who cannot make use of the unprecedented opportunities for self-realization, and cannot escape the confrontation with an ineffectual self.
That hatred springs more from self-contempt than from a legitimate grievance is seen in the intimate connection between hatred and read more
That hatred springs more from self-contempt than from a legitimate grievance is seen in the intimate connection between hatred and a guilty conscience.
The fear of becoming a 'has-been' keeps some people from becoming anything. - The Passionate State of the Mind, 1954.
The fear of becoming a 'has-been' keeps some people from becoming anything. - The Passionate State of the Mind, 1954.
It is the acquisition of skills in particular, irrespective of their utility, that is potent in making life meaningful. Since read more
It is the acquisition of skills in particular, irrespective of their utility, that is potent in making life meaningful. Since man has no inborn skills, the survival of the species has depended on the ability to acquire and perfect skills. Hence the mastery of skills is a uniquely human activity and yields deep satisfaction.
Thus we find that people who fail in everyday affairs show a tendency to reach out for the impossible. They read more
Thus we find that people who fail in everyday affairs show a tendency to reach out for the impossible. They become responsive to grandiose schemes, and will display unequaled steadfastness, formidable energies and a special fitness in the performance of tasks which would stump superior people. It seems paradoxical that defeat in dealing with the possible should embolden people to attempt the impossible, but a familiarity with the mentality of the weak reveals that what seems a path of daring is actually an easy way out: It is to escape the responsibility for failure that the weak so eagerly throw themselves into grandiose undertakings. For when we fail in attaining the impossible we are justified in attributing it to the magnitude of the task.
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.
