Quotes from Eric Hoffer

It is thus with most of us; we are what other people say we are. We know ourselves chiefly by hearsay.

It is the child in man that is the source of his uniqueness and creativeness, and the playground is the optimal milieu for the unfolding of his capacities.

We can be absolutely certain only about things we do not understand.

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

It is often the failure who is the pioneer in new lands, new undertakings, and new forms of expression.

Passionate hatred can give meaning and purpose to an empty life.

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.

Compassion is the antitoxin of the soul: where there is compassion even the most poisonous impulses remain relatively harmless.

Where everything is possible miracles become commonplaces, but the familiar ceases to be self-evident.

There can be no real freedom without the freedom to fail.

To have a grievance is to have a purpose in life.

The passion to get ahead is sometimes born of the fear lest we be left behind.

When people are free to do as they please, they usually imitate each other. Originality is deliberate and forced, and partakes of the nature of a protest.

It is the malady of our age that the young are so busy teaching us that they have no time left to learn.

Rudeness is the weak man's imitation of strength.

We are made kind by being kind.

It is always safe to assume that people are more subtle and less sensitive than they seem.

Not actual suffering but the hope of better things incites people to revolt.

Every new adjustment is a crisis in self-esteem.

Fair play with others is primarily not blaming them for anything that is wrong with us.

A preoccupation with the future not only prevents us from seeing the present as it is, but often prompts us to rearrange the past.

A war is not won if the defeated enemy has not been turned into a friend.

Wise living consists perhaps less in acquiring good habits than in acquiring as few habits as possible.

We lie loudest when we lie to ourselves.