by Eric Hoffer
Hoffer was an American moral and social philosopher. He was the author of ten books and was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom in February 1983. His first book, The True Believer (1951), was widely recognized as a classic, receiving critical acclaim from both scholars and laymen, although Hoffer believed that The Ordeal of Change (1963) was his finest work.
Preoccupation with the self has always seemed to me unhealthy. p. 3
Men feel lonely when they do not the one thing they ought to do. p. 8
I have always wondered whether it is vital for a society that all its members should have some common subjects in which they are equally interested and in which they all have some expertise. In Byzantium the common subjects were theology and chariot races. In this country they are machines and sports. p. 11
He who clings with all his might to an absolute truth fears compromise more than the devil. p. 12
The whole world is imitating us, is becoming Americanized, yet the countries that become like us tend to resent us. p. 16
Being without an unequivocal sense of usefulness and worth, the intellectual has a vital need for pride, which he usually derives from an identification with some compact group, be it a nation, a church, or a party. p. 30
We cannot experiment with humanity, but history is a record of how man reacted under a variety of conditions. p. 33
An optimal milieu is one in which the creative are in close intercourse with each other – hating, loving, envying, admiring; where faces flush, hears flutter, and minds swell with the passion to rival and emulate. p. 36