Unlike the pattern which seems to prevail in the rest of life, in the human species the weak not only survive but often triumph over the strong. The self-hatred inherent in the weak unlocks energies far more formidable then those mobilized by an ordinary struggle for existence.
ERIC HOFFERSelf-contempt, however vague, sharpens our eyes for the imperfections of others. We usually strive to reveal in others the blemishes we hide in ourselves.
More Eric Hoffer Quotes
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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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Learners inherit the earth; while the learned find themselves beautifully equipped to deal with a world that no longer exists.
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The hardest thing to cope with is not selfishness or vanity or deceitfulness, but sheer stupidity.
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The sick in soul insist that it is humanity that is sick, and they are the surgeons to operate on it. They want to turn the world into a sickroom. And once they get humanity strapped to the operating table, they operate on it with an ax.
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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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Self-righteousness is a loud din raised to drown the voice of guilt within us.
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It is doubtful whether the oppressed ever fight for freedom. They fight for pride and power-power to oppress others.
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It is not actual suffering but the taste of better things which excites people to revolt.
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One of the surprising privileges of intellectuals is that they are free to be scandalously asinine without harming their reputations.
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The misery of a child is interesting to a mother, the misery of a young man is interesting to a young woman, the misery of an old man is interesting to nobody.
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We see through others only when we see through ourselves.
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Death has but one terror, that it has no tomorrow.
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Communists are frustrated capitalists.
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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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Wise living consists perhaps less in acquiring good habits than in acquiring as few habits as possible.
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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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The quality of ideas seems to play a minor role in mass movement leadership. What counts is the arrogant gesture, the complete disregard of the opinion of others, the singlehanded defiance of the world.
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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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Fair play is primarily not blaming others for anything that is wrong with us.
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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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The education explosion is producing a vast number of people who want to live significant, important lives but lack the ability to satisfy this craving for importance by individual achievement. The country is being swamped with nobodies who want to be somebodies.
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I have a premonition that will not leave me: as it goes with Israel so will it go with all of us. Should Israel perish, the holocaust will be upon us.
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Nature is a self-made machine, more perfectly automated than any automated machine. To create something in the image of nature is to create a machine, and it was by learning the inner working of nature that man became a builder of machines.
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All leaders strive to turn their followers into children.
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Propaganda does not deceive people; it merely helps them to deceive themselves.
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Power corrupts the few, while weakness corrupts the many.
ERIC HOFFER