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Between the Devil and the Dragon: The Best Essays and Aphorisms of Eric Hoffer

Book by Eric Hoffer · 16 quotes · Men, Self, Humans

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Between the Devil and the Dragon: The Best Essays and Aphorisms of Eric Hoffer Quotes

“A rising mass movement attracts and holds a following not by its doctrine and promises but by the refuge it offers from the anxieties, barrenness and meaningless of an individual existence. It cures the poignantly frustrated not by conferring upon them an absolute truth or by remedying the difficulties and abuses which made their lives miserable, but by freeing them from their ineffectual selves and it does this by enfolding and absorbing them into a closely knit and exultant corporate whole.”

DoeMadeSelfWholeIndividualExistenceSocietyMovementPromiseOffersAnxietyMassAbuseDifficultyAbsolutesFollowingDoctrineCuresMiserableCorporateRisingMeaninglessFrustratedRefugeAbsorbingAbsolute TruthTrue Believer
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“In man's life, the absence of an essential component usually leads to the adoption of a substitute. The substitute is usually embraced with vehemence and extremism, for we have to convince ourselves that what we took as second choice is the best there ever was. Thus blind faith is to a considerable extent a substitute for the lost faith in ourselves; insatiable desire a substitute for hope; accumulation a substitute for growth; fervent hustling a substitute for purposeful action; and pride a substitute for an unattainable self-respect.”

MenSelfActionDesireChoicesLostGrowthPrideEssentialsBlindAbsenceSelf RespectConvinceSubstitutesAdoptionComponentsAccumulationExtremismHustleInsatiableBlind FaithUnattainableFerventLost FaithVehemenceSecond Choice
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“The burning conviction that we have a holy duty towards others is often a way of attaching our drowning selves to a passing raft. What looks like a giving hand is often a holding on for dear life. Take away our holy duties and you leave our lives puny and meaningless. There is no doubt that in exchanging a self-centered for a selfless life we gain enormously in self-esteem. The vanity of the selfless, even those who practice utmost humility, is boundless.”

WayGivingLooksSelfHandsPracticeDoubtOur LivesSelf EsteemHumilityDutyHolyGainsDearConvictionPassingPassingsEsteemBurningVanityNo DoubtMeaninglessSelflessHolding OnDrowningSelf CenteredBoundlessExchangingDear Life
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“Unlike the pattern which seems to prevail in the rest of life, in the human species the weak not only survive but often triumph over the strong. The self-hatred inherent in the weak unlocks energies far more formidable then those mobilized by an ordinary struggle for existence.”

HumansSelfSeemsEnergyStrongExistenceStruggleOrdinaryWeakHatredSpeciesPatternsTriumphInherentFormidableHuman SpeciesSelf HatredRest Of LifeStruggle For Existence
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“Faith, enthusiasm, and passionate intensity in general are substitutes for the self-confidence born of experience and the possession of skill. Where there is the necessary skill to move mountains there is no need for the faith that moves mountains.”

NeedsSelfMovingBornSkillsMountainPassionatePossessionSelf ConfidenceEnthusiasmSubstitutesIntensityMove Mountains
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“To our real, naked selves there is not a thing on earth or in heaven worth dying for. It is only when we see ourselves as actors in a staged (and therefore unreal) performance that death loses its frightfulness and finality and becomes an act of make-believe and a theatrical gesture. It is one of the main tasks of a real leader to mask the grim reality of dying and killing by evoking in his followers the illusion that they are participating in a grandiose spectacle, a solemn or lighthearted dramatic performance.”

BelieveRealSelfRealityEarthActorsHeavenLosesLeaderDyingIllusionTasksPerformancesKillingNakedDramaticMaskFollowersGesturesSolemnUnrealTheatricalGrimParticipatingMake BelieveFinalityGrandiose
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“People unfit for freedom - who cannot do much with it - are hungry for power. The desire for freedom is an attribute of a "have" type of self. It says: leave me alone and I shall grow, learn, and realize my capacities. The desire for power is basically an attribute of a "have not" type of self.”

PeopleSelfDesireGrowsRealizingLibertyTypeCapacityEqualityHungryAttributesLeaving MeMe AloneLeave Me AloneDesire For Power
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“Unless a man has talents to make something of himself, freedom is an irksome burden. Of what avail is freedom to choose if the self be ineffectual? We join a mass movement to escape individual responsibility, or, in the words of the ardent young Nazi, "to be free from freedom."”

IfsMenSelfYoungIndividualResponsibilityHistoryTalentMovementMassBurdenNaziNazismArdentNazi GermanyFreedom To ChooseIndividual Responsibility
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“Faith in humanity, in posterity, in the destiny of one's religion, nation, race, party or family-what is it but the visualization of that eternal something to which we attach the self that is about to be annihilated?”

SelfHumanityNationsPartyRaceDestinyAcceptanceEternalPosterityVisualizationFaith In Humanity
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