The leader has to be practical and a realist, yet must talk the language of the visionary and the idealist. Eric Hoffer More Quotes by Eric Hoffer More Quotes From Eric Hoffer The devil personifies not the nature that is around us but the nature that is within us- the infinitely ferocious and cunning prehuman creature that is still within us, sealed in the subconscious cellars of the psyche. Eric Hoffer subconsciouscunningdevil It almost seems that nobody can hate America as much as native Americans. America needs new immigrants to love and cherish it. Eric Hoffer immigrationhatenative-american Conservatism is sometimes a symptom of sterility. Those who have nothing in them that can grow and develop must cling to what they have in beliefs, ideas and possessions. The sterile radical, too, is basically conservative. He is afraid to let go of the ideas and beliefs he picked up in his youth lest his life be seen as empty and wasted. Eric Hoffer societyletting-goideas 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. Eric Hoffer fightingmilitarymoving The revulsion from an unwanted self, and the impulse to forget it, mask it, slough it off and lose it, produce both a readiness to sacrifice the self and a willingness to dissolve it by losing one's individual distinctness in a compact collective whole. Eric Hoffer sacrificesocietyself A society that refuses to strive for superfluities is likely to end up lacking in necessities. Eric Hoffer strivesocietyends What Pascal said of an effective religion is true of any effective doctrine: it must be "contrary to nature, to common sense and to pleasure. Eric Hoffer pascaldoctrinecommon-sense He who has nothing and wants something is less frustrated than he who has something and wants more. Eric Hoffer frustratedwant-somethingwant Thought is a process of exaggeration. The refusal to exaggerate is not infrequently an alibi for the disinclination to think or praise. Eric Hoffer exaggeration-isliteraturethinking Unless a man has talents to make something of himself, freedom is an irksome burden. Of what avail is freedom to choose if the self be ineffectual? We join a mass movement to escape individual responsibility, or, in the words of the ardent young Nazi, "to be free from freedom." Eric Hoffer responsibilityselfmen The effectiveness of a doctrine does not come from its meaning but from its certitude. No doctrine however profound and sublime will be effective unless it is presented as the embodiment of the one and only truth Eric Hoffer effectivenesssublimeprofound 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. Eric Hoffer considerationcrimecommunism Whoever originated the cliche that money is the root of all evil knew hardly anything about the nature of evil and very little about human beings. Eric Hoffer rootsevillittles To have a grievance is to have a purpose in life. It not infrequently happens that those who hunger for hope give their allegiance to him who offers them a grievance. Eric Hoffer hungerpurposegiving 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 timeteacherchildren The ability to get along without an exceptional leader is the mark of social vigor. Eric Hoffer vigorleadersocial There is a tendency to judge a race, a nation or any distinct group by its leastworthy members. Eric Hoffer toleranceracejudging A heresy can spring only from a system that is in full vigor. Eric Hoffer vigorliteraturespring Communists are frustrated capitalists. Eric Hoffer communistfrustratedcommunism A man's worth is what he is divided by what he thinks he is. Eric Hoffer dividedmenthinking
