The ability to get along without an exceptional leader is the mark of social vigor. — Eric Hoffer Copy Share Image
A person's creative ability decreases in direct proportion to the degree to which he takes himself seriously. — Eric Hoffer Copy Share Image
Creativity is the ability to introduce order into the randomness of nature. — Eric Hoffer Copy Share Image
...in the shaping of a life, chance and the ability to respond to chance are everything. — Eric Hoffer Copy Share Image
Nothing so offends the doctrinaire intellectual as our ability to achieve the momentous in a matter-of-fact way, unblessed by words. — Eric Hoffer Copy Share Image
There is perhaps no better way of measuring the natural endowment of a soul than by its ability to transmute dissatisfaction into… — Eric Hoffer Copy Share Image
The readiness to praise others indicates a desire for excellence and perhaps an ability to realize it. — Eric Hoffer Copy Share Image
Nothing so bolsters our self-confidence and reconciles us with ourselves as the continuous ability to create; to see things grow and develop… — Eric Hoffer Copy Share Image
The education explosion is producing a vast number of people who want to live significant, important lives but lack the ability to… — Eric Hoffer Copy Share Image
There is no reason to believe that the nature of the violent minorities is now greatly different from what it was in… — Eric Hoffer Copy Share Image
One of the marks of a truly vigorous society is the ability to dispense with passion as a midwife of action -… — Eric Hoffer Copy Share Image
Poverty when coupled with creativeness is usually free of frustration. This is true of the poor artisan skilled in his trade and… — Eric Hoffer Copy Share Image
The fanatical Communist refuses to believe any unfavorable report or evidence about Russia, nor will he be disillusioned by seeing with his… — Eric Hoffer Copy Share Image
They who lack talent expect things to happen without effort. They ascribe failure to a lack of inspiration or ability, or to… — Eric Hoffer Copy Share Image
Imitation is often a shortcut to a solution. We copy when we lack the inclination, the ability or the time to work… — Eric Hoffer Copy Share Image
It is the acquisition of skills in particular, irrespective of their utility, that is potent in making life meaningful. Since man has… — Eric Hoffer Copy Share Image
The truth seems to be that propaganda on its own cannot force its way into unwilling minds; neither can it inculcate something wholly new;… — Eric Hoffer Copy Share
When grubbing for necessities man is still an animal. He becomes uniquely human when he reaches out for the superfluous and extravagant. — Eric Hoffer Copy Share
Our originality shows itself most strikingly not in what we wholly originate but in what we do with that which we borrow from others. — Eric Hoffer Copy Share
The creative mind is the playful mind. Philosophy is the play and dance of ideas. — Eric Hoffer Copy Share
It is also plausible that those movements with the greatest inner contradiction and between profession and practice - that is to say with a… — Eric Hoffer Copy Share
“In the alchemy of man's soul almost all noble attributes--courage, honor, love, hope, faith, duty, loyalty, etc.--can be transmuted into ruthlessness. Compassion alone stands… — Eric Hoffer Copy Share
The act of self-denial seems to confer on us the right to be harsh and merciless toward others. The impression somehow prevails that the… — Eric Hoffer Copy Share
A nation without dregs and malcontents, is orderly, decent, peaceful and pleasant, but perhaps without the seed of things to come — Eric Hoffer Copy Share
Compassion alone stands apart from the continuous traffic between good and evil proceeding within us. — Eric Hoffer Copy Share
There are many who find a good alibi far more attractive than an achievement. For an achievement does not settle anything permanently. We still… — Eric Hoffer Copy Share
Man is the only creature that strives to surpass himself, and yearns for the impossible. — Eric Hoffer Copy Share
This food-and-shelter theory concerning man's efforts is without insight. The desire for praise is more imperative than the desire for food and shelter — Eric Hoffer Copy Share
