There would be no society if living together depended upon understanding each other.
- Eric Hoffer
Society, Living, Other, Depended
A dissenting minority feels free only when it can impose its will on the majority: what it abominates most is the dissent of the majority.
- Eric Hoffer
Dissent, Most, Feels, Impose
It is the child in man that is the source of his uniqueness and creativeness, and the playground is the optimal milieu for the unfolding of his capacities and talents.
- Eric Hoffer
Creativeness, His, Milieu, Unfolding
It is a sign of creeping inner death when we can no longer praise the living.
- Eric Hoffer
Death, Living, Longer, Creeping
The search for happiness is one of the chief sources of unhappiness.
- Eric Hoffer
Happiness, Search, Sources, Unhappiness
The suspicious mind believes more than it doubts. It believes in a formidable and ineradicable evil lurking in every person.
- Eric Hoffer
Mind, Doubts, Lurking, Formidable
It almost seems that nobody can hate America as much as native Americans. America needs new immigrants to love and cherish it.
- Eric Hoffer
Love, New, Needs, Native Americans
Someone who thinks the world is always cheating him is right. He is missing that wonderful feeling of trust in someone or something.
- Eric Hoffer
Trust, Wonderful, Always, Cheating
Compassion is the antitoxin of the soul: where there is compassion even the most poisonous impulses remain relatively harmless.
- Eric Hoffer
Soul, Most, Even, Poisonous
An empty head is not really empty; it is stuffed with rubbish. Hence the difficulty of forcing anything into an empty head.
- Eric Hoffer
Head, Difficulty, Hence, Forcing
Creativity is the ability to introduce order into the randomness of nature.
- Eric Hoffer
Nature, Ability, Randomness, Introduce
Rudeness is a weak imitation of strength.
- Eric Hoffer
Strength, Weak, Rudeness, Imitation
There is in most passions a shrinking away from ourselves. The passionate pursuer has all the earmarks of a fugitive.
- Eric Hoffer
Away, Most, Shrinking, Fugitive
It is remarkable by how much a pinch of malice enhances the penetrating power of an idea or an opinion. Our ears, it seems, are wonderfully attuned to sneers and evil reports about our fellow men.
- Eric Hoffer
Pinch, Reports, Enhances, Attuned
Propaganda does not deceive people; it merely helps them to deceive themselves.
- Eric Hoffer
Themselves, Propaganda, Does, Helps
We lie loudest when we lie to ourselves.
- Eric Hoffer
Lie, Ourselves, Loudest
Whenever you trace the origin of a skill or practices which played a crucial role in the ascent of man, we usually reach the realm of play.
- Eric Hoffer
Play, Role, Which, Ascent
Our greatest pretenses are built up not to hide the evil and the ugly in us, but our emptiness. The hardest thing to hide is something that is not there.
- Eric Hoffer
Ugly, Built, Pretenses, Emptiness
A nation without dregs and malcontents is orderly, peaceful and pleasant, but perhaps without the seed of things to come.
- Eric Hoffer
Seed, Nation, Perhaps, Orderly
Those in possession of absolute power can not only prophesy and make their prophecies come true, but they can also lie and make their lies come true.
- Eric Hoffer
Lie, Possession, Prophesy, Prophecy
The savior who wants to turn men into angels is as much a hater of human nature as the totalitarian despot who wants to turn them into puppets.
- Eric Hoffer
Nature, Puppets, Despot, Hater
One of the marks of a truly vigorous society is the ability to dispense with passion as a midwife of action - the ability to pass directly from thought to action.
- Eric Hoffer
Thought, Pass, Dispense, Vigorous
A grievance is most poignant when almost redressed.
- Eric Hoffer
Most, Almost, Grievance, Poignant
There are no chaste minds. Minds copulate wherever they meet.
- Eric Hoffer
Minds, Meet, Chaste, Wherever
We feel free when we escape - even if it be but from the frying pan to the fire.
- Eric Hoffer
Feel, Even, Frying, Pan
People who bite the hand that feeds them usually lick the boot that kicks them.
- Eric Hoffer
Bite, Kicks, Feeds, Lick
We are more prone to generalize the bad than the good. We assume that the bad is more potent and contagious.
- Eric Hoffer
Bad, More, Than, Contagious
It is by its promise of a sense of power that evil often attracts the weak.
- Eric Hoffer
Sense, Promise, Often, Attracts
In times of change learners inherit the earth; while the learned find themselves beautifully equipped to deal with a world that no longer exists.
- Eric Hoffer
Learning, Deal, Learned, Inherit
What greater reassurance can the weak have than that they are like anyone else?
- Eric Hoffer
Like, Anyone, Else, Reassurance
We used to think that revolutions are the cause of change. Actually it is the other way around: change prepares the ground for revolution.
- Eric Hoffer
Change, Think, Other, Prepares
Nationalist pride, like other variants of pride, can be a substitute for self-respect.
- Eric Hoffer
Self-Respect, Other, Like, Nationalist
A great man's greatest good luck is to die at the right time.
- Eric Hoffer
Luck, Good Luck, Die, Right Time
The hardest arithmetic to master is that which enables us to count our blessings.
- Eric Hoffer
Thankful, Blessings, Which, Arithmetic
Our frustration is greater when we have much and want more than when we have nothing and want some. We are less dissatisfied when we lack many things than when we seem to lack but one thing.
- Eric Hoffer
Frustration, More, Some, Dissatisfied
We are least open to precise knowledge concerning the things we are most vehement about.
- Eric Hoffer
Most, Vehement, Concerning, Precise
The leader has to be practical and a realist, yet must talk the language of the visionary and the idealist.
- Eric Hoffer
Leader, Realist, Practical, Idealist
Action is at bottom a swinging and flailing of the arms to regain one's balance and keep afloat.
- Eric Hoffer
Balance, Keep, Bottom, Swinging
There is probably an element of malice in our readiness to overestimate people - we are, as it were, laying up for ourselves the pleasure of later cutting them down to size.
- Eric Hoffer
Pleasure, Readiness, Laying, Malice
The best part of the art of living is to know how to grow old gracefully.
- Eric Hoffer
Art, Living, How, Best Part
The pleasure we derive from doing favors is partly in the feeling it gives us that we are not altogether worthless. It is a pleasant surprise to ourselves.
- Eric Hoffer
Surprise, Doing, Pleasure, Derive
Our passionate preoccupation with the sky, the stars, and a God somewhere in outer space is a homing impulse. We are drawn back to where we came from.
- Eric Hoffer
Sky, Space, Passionate, Impulse
We do not really feel grateful toward those who make our dreams come true; they ruin our dreams.
- Eric Hoffer
Dreams, Grateful, Feel, Ruin
The fear of becoming a 'has-been' keeps some people from becoming anything.
- Eric Hoffer
Fear, Some, Becoming, Has-Been
The real Antichrist is he who turns the wine of an original idea into the water of mediocrity.
- Eric Hoffer
Mediocrity, Original, Idea, Wine
Man is the only creature that strives to surpass himself, and yearns for the impossible.
- Eric Hoffer
Impossible, Only, Himself, Surpass
You can discover what your enemy fears most by observing the means he uses to frighten you.
- Eric Hoffer
Discover, Most, Means, Observing
It is often the failure who is the pioneer in new lands, new undertakings, and new forms of expression.
- Eric Hoffer
New, Expression, New Forms, Forms
When we believe ourselves in possession of the only truth, we are likely to be indifferent to common everyday truths.
- Eric Hoffer
Truth, Common, Likely, Everyday
Social improvement is attained more readily by a concern with the quality of results than with the purity of motives.
- Eric Hoffer
Purity, Social, Readily, Attained
Where everything is possible miracles become commonplaces, but the familiar ceases to be self-evident.
- Eric Hoffer
Where, Self-Evident, Ceases
Every intense desire is perhaps a desire to be different from what we are.
- Eric Hoffer
Desire, Different, Perhaps, Intense Desire
We are told that talent creates its own opportunities. But it sometimes seems that intense desire creates not only its own opportunities, but its own talents.
- Eric Hoffer
Desire, Sometimes, Own, Intense Desire
It sometimes seems that intense desire creates not only its own opportunities, but its own talents.
- Eric Hoffer
Desire, Sometimes, Own, Intense Desire
Animals often strike us as passionate machines.
- Eric Hoffer
Passionate, Often, Strike, Machines
Compassion alone stands apart from the continuous traffic between good and evil proceeding within us.
- Eric Hoffer
Good, Compassion, Within, Traffic
Our sense of power is more vivid when we break a man's spirit than when we win his heart.
- Eric Hoffer
Power, More, Break, Vivid
When people are bored it is primarily with themselves.
- Eric Hoffer
People, Themselves, Bored
It would be difficult to exaggerate the degree to which we are influenced by those we influence.
- Eric Hoffer
Influenced, Which, Would, Exaggerate
We have rudiments of reverence for the human body, but we consider as nothing the rape of the human mind.
- Eric Hoffer
Mind, Human Body, Reverence, Human Mind
Kindness can become its own motive. We are made kind by being kind.
- Eric Hoffer
Kind, Own, Made, Motive
It is futile to judge a kind deed by its motives. Kindness can become its own motive. We are made kind by being kind.
- Eric Hoffer
Kind, Own, Made, Motive
It is the around-the-corner brand of hope that prompts people to action, while the distant hope acts as an opiate.
- Eric Hoffer
Hope, Action, Distant, Brand
To know a person's religion we need not listen to his profession of faith but must find his brand of intolerance.
- Eric Hoffer
Need, Profession, His, Brand
There is sublime thieving in all giving. Someone gives us all he has and we are his.
- Eric Hoffer
Giving, Someone, His, Sublime
With some people solitariness is an escape not from others but from themselves. For they see in the eyes of others only a reflection of themselves.
- Eric Hoffer
Reflection, See, Some, Escape
It is not actual suffering but the taste of better things which excites people to revolt.
- Eric Hoffer
Better, Which, Actual, Excites
The individual who has to justify his existence by his own efforts is in eternal bondage to himself.
- Eric Hoffer
Himself, Efforts, Eternal, Justify
The misery of a child is interesting to a mother, the misery of a young man is interesting to a young woman, the misery of an old man is interesting to nobody.
- Eric Hoffer
Mother, Woman, Young Man, Young Woman
Faith in a holy cause is to a considerable extent a substitute for lost faith in ourselves.
- Eric Hoffer
Lost, Holy, Extent, Considerable
Every new adjustment is a crisis in self-esteem.
- Eric Hoffer
New, Self-Esteem, Crisis, Adjustment
Unpredictability, too, can become monotonous.
- Eric Hoffer
Unpredictability, Too, Monotonous
Men weary as much of not doing the things they want to do as of doing the things they do not want to do.
- Eric Hoffer
Men, Doing, Want, Weary
The game of history is usually played by the best and the worst over the heads of the majority in the middle.
- Eric Hoffer
Game, Middle, Over, Heads
There is no loneliness greater than the loneliness of a failure. The failure is a stranger in his own house.
- Eric Hoffer
Failure, Than, His, Greater
Sometimes we feel the loss of a prejudice as a loss of vigor.
- Eric Hoffer
Loss, Sometimes, Vigor, Prejudice
Disappointment is a sort of bankruptcy - the bankruptcy of a soul that expends too much in hope and expectation.
- Eric Hoffer
Disappointment, Soul, Too, Bankruptcy
Many of the insights of the saint stem from their experience as sinners.
- Eric Hoffer
Saint, Insights, Many, Sinners
It is easier to love humanity as a whole than to love one's neighbor.
- Eric Hoffer
Love, Than, Whole, Easier
Call not that man wretched, who whatever ills he suffers, has a child to love.
- Eric Hoffer
Love, Call, Wretched, To Love
The greatest weariness comes from work not done.
- Eric Hoffer
Work, Done, Greatest, Weariness
Take away hatred from some people, and you have men without faith.
- Eric Hoffer
Some, Away, Take, Some People
It still holds true that man is most uniquely human when he turns obstacles into opportunities.
- Eric Hoffer
Obstacles, Still, Uniquely
When people are free to do as they please, they usually imitate each other.
- Eric Hoffer
Free, Other, Please, Imitate
It is not so much the example of others we imitate as the reflection of ourselves in their eyes and the echo of ourselves in their words.
- Eric Hoffer
Reflection, Words, Echo, Imitate
It is the awareness of unfulfilled desires which gives a nation the feeling that it has a mission and a destiny.
- Eric Hoffer
Destiny, Mission, Which, Gives
Where there is the necessary technical skill to move mountains, there is no need for the faith that moves mountains.
- Eric Hoffer
Mountains, Necessary, Move, Skill
Man was nature's mistake she neglected to finish him and she has never ceased paying for her mistake.
- Eric Hoffer
Mistake, She, Never, Neglected
Children are the keys of paradise.
- Eric Hoffer
Family, Children, Keys, Paradise
To spell out the obvious is often to call it in question.
- Eric Hoffer
Question, Call, Obvious, Spell
Wise living consists perhaps less in acquiring good habits than in acquiring as few habits as possible.
- Eric Hoffer
Wise, Habits, Living, Acquiring
The world leans on us. When we sag, the whole world seems to droop.
- Eric Hoffer
World, Us, Whole, Seems
When cowardice is made respectable, its followers are without number both from among the weak and the strong; it easily becomes a fashion.
- Eric Hoffer
Strong, Made, Respectable, Fashion
Youth itself is a talent, a perishable talent.
- Eric Hoffer
Talent, Youth, Itself, Perishable
We can be absolutely certain only about things we do not understand.
- Eric Hoffer
Only, About, Absolutely, Certain
A heresy can spring only from a system that is in full vigor.
- Eric Hoffer
Spring, System, Only, Vigor
A man by himself is in bad company.
- Eric Hoffer
Man, Bad, Himself, Company
We all have private ails. The troublemakers are they who need public cures for their private ails.
- Eric Hoffer
Need, Private, Public, Troublemakers
I hang onto my prejudices, they are the testicles of my mind.
- Eric Hoffer
Mind, Hang, Prejudices, Onto
Self-esteem and self-contempt have specific odors; they can be smelled.
- Eric Hoffer
Self-Esteem, Specific, Smelled
Passionate hatred can give meaning and purpose to an empty life.
- Eric Hoffer
Passionate, Hatred, Give, Meaning
We have perhaps a natural fear of ends. We would rather be always on the way than arrive. Given the means, we hang on to them and often forget the ends.
- Eric Hoffer
Fear, Always, Given, Perhaps
Craving, not having, is the mother of a reckless giving of oneself.
- Eric Hoffer
Mother, Craving, Having, Oneself
It is the malady of our age that the young are so busy teaching us that they have no time left to learn.
- Eric Hoffer
Teacher, Young, No Time, Malady
Charlatanism of some degree is indispensable to effective leadership.
- Eric Hoffer
Leadership, Some, Effective, Indispensable
The weakness of a soul is proportionate to the number of truths that must be kept from it.
- Eric Hoffer
Soul, Weakness, Number, Kept
Dissipation is a form of self-sacrifice.
- Eric Hoffer
Form, Dissipation, Self-Sacrifice
Facts are counterrevolutionary.
- Eric Hoffer
Facts
To the old, the new is usually bad news.
- Eric Hoffer
News, New, Bad, Bad News
To become different from what we are, we must have some awareness of what we are.
- Eric Hoffer
Different, Some, Must, Awareness
The beginning of thought is in disagreement - not only with others but also with ourselves.
- Eric Hoffer
Beginning, Thought, Only, Disagreement
The only way to predict the future is to have power to shape the future.
- Eric Hoffer
Future, Power, Shape, Predict
Far more crucial than what we know or do not know is what we do not want to know.
- Eric Hoffer
More, Than, Far, Crucial
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