The beginning of thought is in disagreement – not only with others but also with ourselves.
ERIC HOFFERAnger is a prelude to courage.
More Eric Hoffer Quotes
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The ratio between supervisory and producing personnel is always highest where the intellectuals are in power. In a Communist country it takes half the population to supervise the other half.
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Absolute faith corrupts as absolutely as absolute power.
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It is the malady of our age that the young are so busy teaching us that they have no time left to learn.
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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.
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Far more critical than what we know or what we don’t know is what we don’t want to know.
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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.
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Naivete in grownups is often charming; but when coupled with vanity it is indistinguishable from stupidity.
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Language was invented to ask questions.
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Mass movements can rise and spread without belief in a God, but never without belief in a devil.
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To know a person’s religion we need not listen to his profession of faith but must find his brand of intolerance.
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Language was invented to ask questions. Answers may be given by grunts and gestures, but questions must be spoken. Humanness came of age when man asked the first question.
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Self-righteousness is a loud din raised to drown the voice of guilt within us.
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Those who would sacrifice a generation to realize an ideal are the enemies of mankind.
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The savior who wants to turn men into angels is as much a hater of human nature as the totalitarian despot who wants to turn them into puppets.
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Children are the keys of paradise.
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All leaders strive to turn their followers into children.
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It is compassion rather than the principle of justice which can guard us against being unjust to our fellow men.
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There is no doubt that in exchanging a self-centered for a selfless life we gain enormously in self-esteem. The vanity of the selfless, even those who practice utmost humility, is boundless.
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To learn you need a certain degree of confidence, not too much and not too little. If you have too little confidence, you will think you can’t learn. If you have too much, you will think you don’t have to learn.
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You can discover what your enemy fears most by observing the means he uses to frighten you.
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A man is likely to mind his own business when it is worth minding. When it is not, he takes his mind off his own meaningless affairs by minding other people’s business.
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We can be absolutely certain only about things we do not understand.
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Wise living consists perhaps less in acquiring good habits than in acquiring as few habits as possible.
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Creativity is the ability to introduce order into the randomness of nature.
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Nothing comes easily. My work smells of sweat.
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Take away hatred from some people, and you have men without faith.
ERIC HOFFER