I always held my flower in a clenched fist. Eric Hoffer More Quotes by Eric Hoffer More Quotes From Eric Hoffer To our real, naked selves there is not a thing on earth or in heaven worth dying for. It is only when we see ourselves as actors in a staged (and therefore unreal) performance that death loses its frightfulness and finality and becomes an act of make-believe and a theatrical gesture. It is one of the main tasks of a real leader to mask the grim reality of dying and killing by evoking in his followers the illusion that they are participating in a grandiose spectacle, a solemn or lighthearted dramatic performance. Eric Hoffer real self believe To know a person's religion we need not listen to his profession of faith but must find his brand of intolerance. Eric Hoffer atheism atheist religion Where there is the necessary technical skill to move mountains, there is no need for the faith that moves mountains. Eric Hoffer technology skills moving The greatest weariness comes from work not done. Eric Hoffer energy done work The leader personifies the certitude of the creed and the defiance and grandeur of power. He articulates and justifies the resentment damned up in the souls of the frustrated. He kindles the vision of a breath-taking future so as to justify the sacrifice of a transitory present. He stages a world of make-believe so indispensable for the realization of self-sacrifice and united action. Eric Hoffer sacrifice leadership believe There is no loneliness greater than the loneliness of a failure. The failure is a stranger in his own house. Eric Hoffer being-alone failure loneliness By all odds, earliest man, so naked to the elements and to deadly enemies, should have existed in a state of constant shock. We find him instead the only lighthearted being in a deadly serious universe.... He alone, with childish carelessness, tinkered and played, and exerted himself more in the pursuit of superfluities than of necessities. Yet the tinkering and playing, and the fascination with the nonessential, were a chief source of the inventiveness which enabled man to prevail over better-equipped and more-purposeful animals. Eric Hoffer odds animal men The most effective way to silence our guilty conscience is to convince ourselves and others that those we have sinned against are indeed depraved creatures, deserving every punishment, even extermination. We cannot pity those we have wronged, nor can we be indifferent toward them. We must hate and persecute them or else leave the door open to self-contempt. Eric Hoffer hate self doors We need not only a purpose in life to give meaning to our existence but also something to give meaning to our suffering. We need as much something to suffer for as something to live for. Eric Hoffer suffering giving life Fair play is primarily not blaming others for anything that is wrong with us. Eric Hoffer play success sports The creative mind is the playful mind. Philosophy is the play and dance of ideas. Eric Hoffer play writing philosophy Where freedom is real, equality is the passion of the masses. Where equality is real, freedom is the passion of a small minority. Eric Hoffer equality passion real It is doubtful whether the oppressed ever fight for freedom. They fight for pride and power-power to oppress others. Eric Hoffer fighting pride trouble When we believe ourselves in possession of the only truth, we are likely to be indifferent to common everyday truths. Eric Hoffer everyday common believe A ruling intelligentsia, whether in Europe, Asia or Africa, treats the masses as raw material to be experimented on, processed, and wasted at will. Eric Hoffer patriotic raw-materials europe 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 literature way thinking Language was invented to ask questions. Eric Hoffer humanness-is asks language Creativity is the ability to introduce order into the randomness of nature. Eric Hoffer chaos creativity order There is a totalitarian regime inside every one of us. We are ruled by a ruthless politburo which sets our norms and drives us from one five-year plan to another. The autonomous individual who has to justify his existence by his own efforts is in eternal bondage to himself. Eric Hoffer effort individuality years When people are bored it is primarily with themselves. Eric Hoffer bores-you boredom people
