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Quote by Eric Hoffer

“That which is unique and worthwhile in us makes itself felt only in flashes. If we do not know how to catch and savor the flashes we are without growth and exhilaration.”

Quote by Eric Hoffer

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

Work

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

This book compiles a selection of Eric Hoffer's most insightful essays and aphorisms, offering readers a glimpse into his profound thoughts on human nature, society, and the complexities of the world. more

Author

Eric Hoffer was an American philosopher known for his profound insights into human nature. His works often explore society, politics, and human behavior, particularly focusing on the experiences of the underclass. Hoffer came from a German immigrant family and worked in various jobs in California during his youth, including dockworker, cook, and gardener. His first book, 'The Ordeal of Change', was published in 1950 and quickly became a bestseller, gaining him widespread recognition. His other works include 'The Ordeal of Change' and 'The True Believer' among others. more

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“The chief difference between me and others is that I have plenty of time not only because I am without a multitude of responsibilities and without daily tasks, which demand attention: But also because I am basically without ambition. Neither the present nor the future has claims on me.”

Differences Attention Responsibility Demand Ambition Tasks Claims Chiefs Plenty Multitudes Daily Tasks

Author:Eric Hoffer

“One is not quite certain that creativeness in the arts, literature, and science functions best in an environment of absolute freedom. Chances are that a relatively mild tyranny stimulates creativeness.”

Art Certain Literature Chance Environment Function Absolutes Tyranny Chances Are Creativeness Absolute Freedom

Author:Eric Hoffer

“Universities are an example of organizations dominated wholly by intellectuals; yet, outside pure science, they have not been an optimal milieu for the unfolding of creative talents. In neither art, music, literature, technology and social theory, nor planning have the Universities figured as originators or as seedbeds of new talents and energies.”

Art Literature Energy Social Technology Creative Talent Example Theory Pure Organization University Planning Unfolding Optimal Art Music Milieu New Talent Social Theory

Author:Eric Hoffer

“I could never figure out or probably did not take the trouble to figure out what the great philosophical problems are about. The momentous statements I come across are at best a storm in a teacup. There are quite a number of people who have a vested interest in the stuff, make a noble living out of it, and they conspire with one another to keep it alive.”

People Problem Stuff Interest Numbers Alive Trouble Figures Philosophical Storm Noble Statements Vested Interests Great Philosophical

Author:Eric Hoffer

“When hopes and dreams are loose in the streets, it is well for the timid to lock doors, shutter windows and lie low until the wrath has passed. For there is often a monstrous incongruity between the hopes, however noble and tender, and the action which follows them. It is as if ivied maidens and garlanded youths were to herald the four horsemen of the apocalypse .”

Source: The True Believer: Thoughts on the Nature of Mass Movements

“Modern man is weighed down more by the burden of responsibility than by the burden of sin. We think him more a savior who shoulders our responsibilities than him who shoulders our sins. If instead of making decisions we have but to obey and do our duty, we feel it as a sort of salvation.”

Ifs Thinking Men Feels Sin Decision Responsibility Modern Duty Salvation Burden Shoulders Savior Making Decisions Modern Man Burden Of Responsibility

Author:Eric Hoffer

“I just don't do anything fun anymore. But, that's dying, isn't it? I mean, you die in stages, right? You let things go in pieces.”

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Author:Mel Gibson

“The 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.”

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Author:Eric Hoffer

“Ours is a golden age of minorities. At no time in the past have dissident minorities felt so much at home and had so much room to throw their weight around. They speak and act as if they were "the people," and what they abominate most is the dissent of the majority.”

People Ifs Home Age Past Speak Felt Rooms Weight Majority Golden Minorities Dissent Golden Age Dissidents

Book:In our time

Source: In our time

“By circumstance and perhaps also by inclination, I think in complete intellectual isolation. To expect others to help me think seems to me almost like expecting them to help me digest my food.”

Thinking Helping Seems Circumstances Intellectual Isolation Help Me Expecting Inclination

Author:Eric Hoffer