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
It is the around-the-corner brand of hope that prompts people to action, while the distant hope acts as an opiate. — Eric Hoffer Copy Share Image
The link between ideas and action is rarely direct. There is almost always an intermediate step in which the idea is overcome. — Eric Hoffer Copy Share Image
Action is at bottom a swinging and flailing of the arms to regain one's balance and keep afloat. — Eric Hoffer Copy Share Image
Men of thought seldom work well together, whereas between men of action there is usually an easy camaraderie. — Eric Hoffer Copy Share Image
Action is basically a reaction against loss of balance - a flailing of the arms to to regain one's balance. To dispose… — Eric Hoffer Copy Share Image
Action can give us the feeling of being useful, but only words can give us a sense of weight and purpose. — Eric Hoffer Copy Share Image
Quite often in history action has been the echo of words. An era of talk was followed by an era of events.… — Eric Hoffer Copy Share Image
The main effect of a real revolution is perhaps that it sweeps away those who do not know how to wish, and… — Eric Hoffer Copy Share Image
Perhaps a modern society can remain stable only by eliminating adolescence, by giving its young, from the age of ten, the skills,… — Eric Hoffer Copy Share Image
In a trader-dominated society, the scribe is usually kept out of the management of affairs, but it given a more or less… — Eric Hoffer Copy Share Image
There is nothing more explosive than a skilled population condemned to inaction. Such a population is likely to become a hotbed of… — Eric Hoffer Copy Share Image
[The designated or chosen leader tries to] articulate and justify the resentment dammed up in the souls of the frustrated. He kindles… — Eric Hoffer Copy Share Image
The individual's most vital need is to prove his worth, and this usually means an insatiable hunger for action. For it is… — Eric Hoffer Copy Share Image
All mass movements avail themselves of action as a means of unification. The conflicts a mass movement seeks and incites serve not… — 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
The vigor of a mass movement stems from the propensity of its followers for united action and self-sacrifice. When we ascribe the… — Eric Hoffer Copy Share Image
When watching men of power in action it must be always kept in mind that, whether they know it or not, their… — Eric Hoffer Copy Share Image
In man's life, the absence of an essential component usually leads to the adoption of a substitute. The substitute is usually embraced… — Eric Hoffer Copy Share Image
We know that words cannot move mountains, but they can move the multitude; and men are more ready to fight and die… — Eric Hoffer Copy Share Image
The leader personifies the certitude of the creed and the defiance and grandeur of power. He articulates and justifies the resentment damned… — Eric Hoffer Copy Share Image
When hopes and dreams are loose in the streets, it is well for the timid to lock doors, shutter windows and lie… — Eric Hoffer Copy Share Image
All mass movements generate in their adherents a readiness to die and a proclivity for united action; all of them, irrespective of… — 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 Image
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 Image
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 Image
The creative mind is the playful mind. Philosophy is the play and dance of ideas. — Eric Hoffer Copy Share Image
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 Image
The best part of the art of living is to know how to grow old gracefully. — Eric Hoffer Copy Share Image
“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 Image
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 Image
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 Image
Compassion alone stands apart from the continuous traffic between good and evil proceeding within us. — Eric Hoffer Copy Share Image
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 Image
![“[The designated or chosen leader tries to] articulate and justify the resentment dammed up in the souls of the frustrated. He kindles the vision of a breathtaking future so as to justify the sacrifice of a transitory present. He stages the world of make-believe so indispensable for the realization…” quote by Eric Hoffer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/img-quotes/6e6/eric-hoffer-343_action_the-designated-or-chosen-leader-tries-to_2033811.jpg)
