black
grey
blue
red
brown
white

Propaganda does not deceive people; it merely helps them to deceive themselves.

Eric Hoffer

A passionate obsession with the outside world or the private lives of others is an attempt to compensate for a lack of meaning in one’s own life.
ERIC HOFFER

Life Live Obsession Passionate World
One of the chief differences between an adult and a juvenile is that the adult knows when he is an ass while the juvenile never does.
ERIC HOFFER

Adult Difference Growth
We can be absolutely certain only about things we do not understand.
ERIC HOFFER

Reality Understand
Learners inherit the earth; while the learned find themselves beautifully equipped to deal with a world that no longer exists.
ERIC HOFFER

Beautiful Deal Equipment Existence Learning Truth World
The creative mind is the playful mind. Philosophy is the play and dance of ideas.
ERIC HOFFER

Creation Creative Dance Ideas Mindset Philosophy Play
Absolute faith corrupts as absolutely as absolute power.
ERIC HOFFER

Corruption Faith Power
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.
ERIC HOFFER

Atheist Care God Religious
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.
ERIC HOFFER

Ideas Leadership Play Quality World
The trouble is not chiefly that our universities are unfit for students but that many present-day students are unfit for universities.
ERIC HOFFER

Change Children Education Student Trouble
Our greatest pretenses are built up not to hide the evil and the ugly in us, but our emptiness. The hardest thing to hide is something that is not there.
ERIC HOFFER

Build Empty Evil Greatness Hard Hide Ourselves Philosophy Pretend Ugly
The future belongs to the learners-not the knowers.
ERIC HOFFER

Future Learning World
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.
ERIC HOFFER

Children Man Misery Mom Old Woman Young
Death has but one terror, that it has no tomorrow.
ERIC HOFFER

Death Deep Future Terrorism
One of the surprising privileges of intellectuals is that they are free to be scandalously asinine without harming their reputations.
ERIC HOFFER

Freedom Harm Intellectual Privilege Reputation
The only way to predict the future is to have power to shape the future.
ERIC HOFFER

Deep Future Power Way
A dissenting minority feels free only when it can impose its will on the majority: what it abominates most is the dissent of the majority.
ERIC HOFFER

Feeling Freedom Opinion Willing
The beginning of thought is in disagreement – not only with others but also with ourselves.
ERIC HOFFER

Agreement Beginning Ourselves Thinking
You can never get enough of what you don’t need to make you happy.
ERIC HOFFER

Enough Happiness Need Philosophy Wisdom Yourself
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.
ERIC HOFFER

Build Creation Image Learning Man Nature Perfection Technology
We see through others only when we see through ourselves.
ERIC HOFFER

Character Philosophy See Wisdom Yourself
What monstrosities would walk the streets were some people’s faces as unfinished as their minds.
ERIC HOFFER

Appearance Face Mindset People Walk
Mass movements can rise and spread without belief in a God, but never without belief in a devil.
ERIC HOFFER

Belief Devil God Rise
Fair play is primarily not blaming others for anything that is wrong with us.
ERIC HOFFER

Blame Fair Play Wrong
To become different from what we are, we must have some awareness of what we are.
ERIC HOFFER

Be Yourself Different Improvement Philosophy Transformation Wisdom
Jesus was not a Christian, nor was Marx a Marxist.
ERIC HOFFER

God Identity Perspective Religious
Wise living consists perhaps less in acquiring good habits than in acquiring as few habits as possible.
ERIC HOFFER

Choice Goodness Habit Live Possible
For many people, an excuse is better than an achievement because an achievement, no matter how great, leaves you having to prove yourself again in the future; but an excuse can last for life.
ERIC HOFFER

Achievement Future Greatness Leaving Life People Reason Yourself

Propaganda does not deceive people; it merely helps them to deceive themselves.

Related Topics

Popular Authors

Propaganda does not deceive people; it merely helps them to deceive themselves.

Related Topics

Popular Authors

More Eric Hoffer Quotes