99 Famous Quotes By Eric Hoffer, The Author Of The True Believer
‘The only way to predict the future is to shape the future’ – quoted by Eric Hoffer says much about the attitude one must have in life. We all get intrigued by the fact that what our future holds for us. In doing so, many of us fail to realize the importance of the present. Hoffer beautifully describes that a perfect future is only the result of a hardworking present life. Toiling today would assist you in reaping benefits tomorrow. A moral and social philosopher, Eric Hoffer was a sheer genius who is today regarded as one of the most important thinkers of the 20th century. Author of ten books, his big break came in when he penned ‘The True Believer’ which amassed recognition and acknowledgement from the critics and audience alike. Interestingly Hoffer had no schooling and was practically blind until 15. As soon as he gained his eyesight, he read voraciously, taking up every book that he could lay his hands on. Hoffer’s moral and social philosophy throws a light on various aspects of life such as happiness, expectation, hope, joy, kindness, compassion, self-esteem, strength and so on. Find out some of the best known quotes by Eric Hoffer.
Disappointment is a sort of bankruptcy - the bankruptcy of a soul that expends too much in hope and expectation.
Rudeness is the weak man's imitation of strength.
We lie the loudest when we lie to ourselves.
In times of change, learners inherit the earth, while the learned find themselves beautifully equipped to deal with a world that no longer exists.
The hardest arithmetic to master is that which enables us to count our blessings.
People who bite the hand that feeds them usually lick the boot that kicks them.
Every great cause begins as a movement, becomes a business, and eventually degenerates into a racket.
When people are bored, it is primarily with their own selves that they are bored.
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.
When people are free to do as they please, they usually imitate each other.
Anger is the prelude to courage.
Our frustration is greater when we have much and want more than when we have nothing and want some. We are less dissatisfied when we lack many things than when we seem to lack but one thing.
Absolute faith corrupts as absolutely as absolute power.
It still holds true that man is most uniquely human when he turns obstacles into opportunities.
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.
Nonconformists travel as a rule in bunches. You rarely find a nonconformist who goes it alone. And woe to him inside a nonconformist clique who does not conform with nonconformity.
You can discover what your enemy fears most by observing the means he uses to frighten you.
Far more crucial than what we know or do not know is what we do not want to know.
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.
In a world of change, the learners shall inherit the earth, while the learned shall find themselves perfectly suited for a world that no longer exists.
You can never get enough of what you don't need to make you happy.
The greatest weariness comes from work not done.
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.
An empty head is not really empty; it is stuffed with rubbish. Hence the difficulty of forcing anything into an empty head.
To be fully alive is to feel that everything is possible.
To a man utterly without a sense of belonging, mere life is all that matters. It is the only reality in an eternity of nothingness, and he clings to it with shameless despair.
Man staggers through life yapped at by his reason, pulled and shoved by his appetites, whispered to by fears, beckoned by hopes. Small wonder that what he craves most is self-forgetting.
Passionate hatred can give meaning and purpose to an empty life.
What monstrosities would walk the streets were some people's faces as unfinished as their minds.
It is startling to realize how much unbelief is necessary to make belief possible.
