We usually see only the things we are looking for- so much so that we sometimes see them where they are not. Eric Hoffer More Quotes by Eric Hoffer More Quotes From Eric Hoffer The trouble is not chiefly that our universities are unfit for students but that many present-day students are unfit for universities. Eric Hoffer university trouble students Animals can learn, but it is not by learning that they become dogs, cats, or horses. Only man has to learn to become what he is supposed to be. Eric Hoffer horse cat dog Up to now, America has not been a good milieu for the rise of a mass movement. What starts out here as a mass movement ends up as a racket, a cult, or a corporation. Eric Hoffer deep-thought movement humor There is apparently no surer way of turning a thing into its opposite than by exaggerating it Eric Hoffer society opposites way We cannot win the weak by sharing our wealth with them. They feel our generosity as oppression. Eric Hoffer generosity weakness winning People unfit for freedom - who cannot do much with it - are hungry for power. The desire for freedom is an attribute of a "have" type of self. It says: leave me alone and I shall grow, learn, and realize my capacities. The desire for power is basically an attribute of a "have not" type of self. Eric Hoffer equality self people When you automate an industry you modernize it; when you automate a life you primitivize it. Eric Hoffer modernism modernity industry To the old, the new is usually bad news. Eric Hoffer bad-news novelty news I hang onto my prejudices, they are the testicles of my mind. Eric Hoffer prejudice literature mind An empty head is not really empty; it is stuffed with rubbish. Hence the difficulty of forcing anything into an empty head. Eric Hoffer education inspirational funny The poor on the borderline of starvation live purposeful lives. To be engaged in a desperate struggle for food and shelter is to be wholly free from a sense of futility Eric Hoffer shelter poverty struggle 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-deeds judging kindness [The designated or chosen leader tries to] articulate and justify the resentment dammed up in the souls of the frustrated. He kindles the vision of a breathtaking future so as to justify the sacrifice of a transitory present. He stages the world of make-believe so indispensable for the realization of self-sacrifice and united action. Eric Hoffer sacrifice self believe The majority prove their worth by keeping busy. A busy life is the nearest thing to a purposeful life. Eric Hoffer majority busy life-is It is startling to realize how much unbelief is necessary to make belief possible. Eric Hoffer believer realizing belief Self-contempt, however vague, sharpens our eyes for the imperfections of others. We usually strive to reveal in others the blemishes we hide in ourselves. Eric Hoffer eye acceptance self The feeling of being hurried is not usually the result of living a full life and having no time. It is on the contrary born of a vague fear that we are wasting our life. When we do not do the one thing we ought to do, we have no time for anything else--we are the busiest people in the world. Eric Hoffer work time happiness Rudeness is a weak imitation of strength. Eric Hoffer glitter political attitude It is easier to hate an enemy with much good in him than one who is all bad. We cannot hate those we despise. Eric Hoffer easier hate enemy 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
