WIST

Our greatest weariness comes from work not done.

Eric Hoffer (1902-1983) American writer, philosopher, longshoreman
“Thoughts of Eric Hoffer,” New York Times Magazine (25 Apr 1971)

Intolerance is the “Do Not Disturb” sign on something that cannot bear touching. We do not mind having our hair ruffled, but we will not tolerate any familiarity with the toupee that covers our baldness.

Eric Hoffer (1902-1983) American writer, philosopher, longshoreman
(Attributed)

Woe to him inside a nonconformist clique who does not conform with nonconformity.

Eric Hoffer (1902-1983) American writer, philosopher, longshoreman
(Attributed)

It is easier to love humanity than to love your neighbor.

Eric Hoffer (1902-1983) American writer, philosopher, longshoreman
(Attributed)

You can discover what your enemy fears most by observing the means he uses to frighten you.

Eric Hoffer (1902-1983) American writer, philosopher, longshoreman
(Attributed)

No matter what our achievements might be, we think well of ourselves only in rare moments. We need people to bear witness against our inner judge, who keeps book on our short-comings and transgressions. We need people to convince us that we are not as bad as we think we are.

Eric Hoffer (1902-1983) American writer, philosopher, longshoreman
(Attributed)

The basic test of freedom is perhaps less in what we are free to do than in what we are free not to do.

Eric Hoffer (1902-1983) American writer, philosopher, longshoreman
(Attributed)

People who bite the hand that feeds them usually lick the boot that kicks them.

Eric Hoffer (1902-1983) American writer, philosopher, longshoreman
(Attributed)

We are more ready to try the untried when what we do is inconsequential. Hence the remarkable fact that many inventions had their birth as toys.

Eric Hoffer (1902-1983) American writer, philosopher, longshoreman
(Attributed)

We are more ready to try the untried when what we do is inconsequential. Hence the fact that many inventions had their birth as toys.

Eric Hoffer (1902-1983) American writer, philosopher, longshoreman
(Attributed)

A dissenter is to the absoluteness of power what an exception is to the validity of a formulated scientific rule — both must be dealt with and somehow eliminated.

Eric Hoffer (1902-1983) American writer, philosopher, longshoreman
Ordeal of Change, 15.4 (1964)

There are similarities between absolute power and absolute faith: a demand for absolute obedience, a readiness to attempt the impossible, a bias for simple solutions — to cut the knot rather than unravel it, the viewing of compromise as surrender. Both absolute power and absolute faith are instruments of dehumanization. Hence, absolute faith corrupts as absolutely as absolute power.

Eric Hoffer (1902-1983) American writer, philosopher, longshoreman
The New York Times Magazine, “Thoughts of Eric Hoffer,” p. 24 (25 Apr. 1971)
Source: http://www.bartleby.com/73/1448.html

Retribution often means that we eventually do to ourselves what we have done unto others.

Eric Hoffer (1902-1983) American writer, philosopher, longshoreman
The New York Times Magazine, “Thoughts of Eric Hoffer,” p. 57 (25 Apr. 1971)
Source: http://www.bartleby.com/73/1612.html

It is probably true that business corrupts everything it touches. It corrupts politics, sports, literature, art, labor unions and so on. But business also corrupts and undermines monolithic totalitarianism. Capitalism is at its liberating best in a noncapitalist environment.

Eric Hoffer (1902-1983) American writer, philosopher, longshoreman
The New York Times Magazine, “Thoughts of Eric Hoffer” (25 Apr. 1971)
http://www.bartleby.com/73/158.html

The ruthlessness born of self-seeking is ineffectual compared with the ruthlessness sustained by dedication to a holy cause.

Eric Hoffer (1902-1983) American writer, philosopher, longshoreman
The Ordeal of Change

Discontent is at the root of the creative process:

Eric Hoffer (1902-1983) American writer, philosopher, longshoreman
The Ordeal of Change, Ch. 6 (1964)

Rudeness is the weak man’s imitation of strength.

Eric Hoffer (1902-1983) American writer, philosopher, longshoreman
The Passionate State of Mind (1955)

Free men are aware of the imperfection inherent in human affairs, and they are willing to fight and die for that which is not perfect. They know that basic human problems can have no final solutions, that our freedom, justice, equality, etc. are far from absolute, and that the good life is compounded of half measures, compromises, lesser evils, and gropings toward the perfect. The rejection of approximations and the insistence on absolutes are the manifestation of a nihilism that loathes freedom, tolerance, and equity.

Eric Hoffer (1902-1983) American writer, philosopher, longshoreman
The Temper of Our Time

There is a tendency to judge a race, a nation or any distinct group by its least worthy members.

Eric Hoffer (1902-1983) American writer, philosopher, longshoreman
The True Believer: Thoughts on the Nature of Mass Movements

[F]anatics of all kinds are actually crowded together at one end. It is the fanatic and the moderate who are poles apart and never meet. … [T]he reactionary and the radical have more in common than either has with the liberal or the conservative.

Eric Hoffer (1902-1983) American writer, philosopher, longshoreman
The True Believer (1951)

We are less dissatisfied when we lack many things than when we seem to lack but one thing.

Eric Hoffer (1902-1983) American writer, philosopher, longshoreman
The True Believer, ch. 23 (1951)

To be effective a doctrine must not be understood, but has to be believed in. We can be absolutely certain only about things we do not understand. A doctrine that is understood is shorn of its strength.

Eric Hoffer (1902-1983) American writer, philosopher, longshoreman
The True Believer, ch. 57 (1951)

The reactionary and the radical have more in common than either has with the liberal or the conservative.

Eric Hoffer (1902-1983) American writer, philosopher, longshoreman
The True Believer, ch. 62 (1951)

Proselytizing is more a passionate search for something not yet found than a desire to bestow upon the world something we already have.  It is a search for a final and irrefutable demonstration that our absolute truth is indeed the one and only truth. The proselytizing fanatic strengthens his own faith by converting others.

Eric Hoffer (1902-1983) American writer, philosopher, longshoreman
The True Believer, ch. 88 (1951)

The most effective way to silence our guilty conscience is to convince ourselves and others that those we have sinned against are indeed depraved creatures, deserving every punishment, even extermination.  We cannot pity those we have wronged, nor can we be indifferent toward them.  We must hate and persecute them or else leave the door open to self-contempt.

Eric Hoffer (1902-1983) American writer, philosopher, longshoreman
True Believer: Thoughts on the Nature of Mass Movements, ch. 71 (1951)

It is loneliness that makes the loudest noise. This is as true of men as of dogs.

Eric Hoffer (1902-1983) American writer, philosopher, longshoreman
“Thoughts of Eric Hoffer,” The New York Times Magazine, (25 Apr 1971)