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Eric Hoffer Quotes


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We do not really feel grateful toward those who make our dreams come true; they ruin our dreams.
[Hope]

We feel free when we escape - even if it be but from the frying pan to the fire.

We have perhaps a natural fear of ends. We would rather be always on the way than arrive. Given the means, we hang on to them and often forget the ends.

We have rudiments of reverence for the human body, but we consider as nothing the rape of the human mind.

We lie loudest when we lie to ourselves.

We used to think that revolutions are the cause of change. Actually it is the other way around: change prepares the ground for revolution.

What greater reassurance can the weak have than that they are like anyone else?

When cowardice is made respectable, its followers are without number both from among the weak and the strong; it easily becomes a fashion.

When people are bored, it is primarily with their own selves that they are bored.
[Boredom]

When people are free to do as they please, they usually imitate each other. Originality is deliberate and forced, and partakes of the nature of a protest.
[Imitation]

When we believe ourselves in possession of the only truth, we are likely to be indifferent to common everyday truths.

Whenever you trace the origin of a skill or practices which played a crucial role in the ascent of man, we usually reach the realm of play.

Where everything is possible miracles become commonplaces, but the familiar ceases to be self-evident.
[Miracles]

Where there is the necessary technical skill to move mountains, there is no need for the faith that moves mountains.

Wise living consists perhaps less in acquiring good habits than in acquiring as few habits as possible.

With some people solitariness is an escape not from others but from themselves. For they see in the eyes of others only a reflection of themselves.

You can discover what your enemy fears most by observing the means he uses to frighten you.
[Enemies]

You can never get enough of what you don't need to make you happy.

Youth itself is a talent, a perishable talent.


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