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1 " Every great cause begins as a movement, becomes a business, and eventually degenerates into a racket. "
― Eric Hoffer , The Temper of Our Time
2 " There would be no society if living together depended upon understanding each other. "
― Eric Hoffer
3 " The search for happiness is one of the chief sources of unhappiness. "
4 " The opposite of the religious fanatic is not the fanatical atheist but the gentle cynic who cares not whether there is a god or not. "
5 " 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. "
6 " It still holds true that man is most uniquely human when he turns obstacles into opportunities. "
7 " We feel free when we escape - even if it be but from the frying pan to the fire. "
8 " If the Communists win Europe and a large part of the world, it will not be because they know how to stir up discontent or how to infect people with hatred, but because they know how to preach hope. "
9 " Hatred is the most accessible and comprehensive of all the unifying agents. Mass movements can rise and spread without belief in a god, but never without a belief in a devil. "
― Eric Hoffer , The True Believer: Thoughts on the Nature of Mass Movements
10 " In a time of drastic change it is the learners who inherit the future. The learned usually find themselves equipped to live in a world that no longer exists. "
― Eric Hoffer , Reflections on the Human Condition
11 " The greatest weariness comes from work not done. "
12 " No one is truly literate who cannot read his own heart. "
13 " Anger is the prelude to courage. "
14 " Creativity is the ability to introduce order into the randomness of nature. "
15 " Jesus was not a Christian, nor was Marx a Marxist. "
16 " Kindness can become its own motive. We are made kind by being kind. "
17 " The beginning of thought is in disagreement - not only with others but also with ourselves. "
― Eric Hoffer , The Passionate State of Mind: And Other Aphorisms
18 " 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. "
19 " Ideas have significance for him only as a prelude to action. "
― Eric Hoffer , The Ordeal of Change
20 " To become different from what we are, we must have some awareness of what we are. "
