Eric Hoffer Quotes
It still holds true that man is most uniquely human when he turns obstacles into opportunities. It would be difficult to exaggerate the degree to which we are influenced by those we influence. Kindness can become its own motive. We are made kind by being kind. Man is the only creature that strives to surpass himself, and yearns for the impossible. Man was nature's mistake she neglected to finish him and she has never ceased paying for her mistake. Many of the insights of the saint stem from their experience as sinners. Men weary as much of not doing the things they want to do as of doing the things they do not want to do. Nationalist pride, like other variants of pride, can be a substitute for self-respect. 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. 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. 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. 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. Our sense of power is more vivid when we break a man's spirit than when we win his heart. Passionate hatred can give meaning and purpose to an empty life. People who bite the hand that feeds them usually lick the boot that kicks them. Propaganda does not deceive people; it merely helps them to deceive themselves. Rudeness is a weak imitation of strength. Self-esteem and self-contempt have specific odors; they can be smelled. Social improvement is attained more readily by a concern with the quality of results than with the purity of motives. Someone who thinks the world is always cheating him is right. He is missing that wonderful feeling of trust in someone or something.
Web Toolbar by Wibiya 