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 HOFFERThe 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 HOFFERThe future belongs to the learners-not the knowers.
ERIC HOFFERThe history of this country was made largely by people who wanted to be left alone. Those who could not thrive when left to themselves never felt at ease in America.
ERIC HOFFERIt is the malady of our age that the young are so busy teaching us that they have no time left to learn.
ERIC HOFFERThe search for happiness is one of the chief sources of unhappiness.
ERIC HOFFERIt is not actual suffering but the taste of better things which excites people to revolt.
ERIC HOFFERDeath has but one terror, that it has no tomorrow.
ERIC HOFFEROur 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 HOFFERThe capacity for getting along with our neighbor depends to a large extent on the capacity for getting along with ourselves. The self-respecting individual will try to be as tolerant of his neighbor’s shortcomings as he is of his own.
ERIC HOFFERThe beginning of thought is in disagreement – not only with others but also with ourselves.
ERIC HOFFERAnger is a prelude to courage.
ERIC HOFFERAbsolute faith corrupts as absolutely as absolute power.
ERIC HOFFERThe basic test of freedom is perhaps less in what we are free to do than in what we are free not to do.
ERIC HOFFERThe central task of education is to implant a will and facility for learning; it should produce not learned but learning people. The truly human society is a learning society, where grandparents, parents, and children are students together.
ERIC HOFFERWe 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.
ERIC HOFFERIt is futile to judge a kind deed by its motives. Kindness can become its own motive. We are made kind by being kind.
ERIC HOFFER