First something is a great idea, then it becomes a cause, then it becomes a business and finally it becomes a racket. — Eric Hoffer Copy Share Image
Unlimited opportunities can be as potent a cause of frustration as a paucity or lack of opportunities. — Eric Hoffer Copy Share Image
Every great cause begins as a movement, becomes a business, and eventually degenerates into a racket. — Eric Hoffer Copy Share Image
Whenever we proclaim the uniqueness of a religion , a truth , a leader, a nation, a race, a part or a… — Eric Hoffer Copy Share Image
The fanatic is not really a stickler to principle. He embraces a cause not primarily because of its justness or holiness but… — Eric Hoffer Copy Share Image
Where unity and self-sacrifice are indispensable for the normal functioning of society, everyday life is likely to be either religiofied (common tasks… — Eric Hoffer Copy Share Image
The less justified a man is in claiming excellence for his own self, the more ready he is to claim all excellence… — Eric Hoffer Copy Share Image
However different the holy causes people die for, they perhaps die basically for the same thing. — Eric Hoffer Copy Share Image
People haunted by the purposelessness of their lives try to find a new content not only by dedicating themselves to a holy… — Eric Hoffer Copy Share Image
The ruthlessness born of self-seeking is ineffectual compared with the ruthlessness sustained by dedication to a holy cause. God wishes, said Calvin,… — Eric Hoffer Copy Share Image
To believe that if we could have but this or that we would be happy is to suppress the realization that the… — Eric Hoffer Copy Share Image
...the differences between the conservative and the radical seem to spring mainly from their attitude toward the future. Fear of the future… — Eric Hoffer Copy Share Image
Every era has a currency that buys souls. In some the currency is pride, in others it is hope, in still others… — Eric Hoffer Copy Share Image
To find the cause of our ills in something outside ourselves, something specific that can be spotted and eliminated, is a diagnosis… — Eric Hoffer Copy Share Image
Man is eminently a storyteller. His search for a purpose, a cause, an ideal, a mission and the like is largely a… — 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
Marriage has for women many equivalents of joining a mass movement. It offers them a new purpose in life, a new future… — Eric Hoffer Copy Share Image
Religion is not a matter of God, church, holy cause, etc. These are but accessories. The source of religious preoccupation is in… — Eric Hoffer Copy Share Image
We can be satisfied with moderate confidence in ourselves and with a moderately good opinion of ourselves, but the faith we have… — Eric Hoffer Copy Share Image
Up to now, America has not been a good milieu for the rise of a mass movement. What starts out here as… — 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
