--- title: "Best Richard Hofstadter Quotes" description: "Richard Hofstadter was an American historian and public intellectual. Hofstadter was the DeWitt Clinton Professor of American History at Columbia Univer..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/uploads/sms4s/authors/processed/b089/author-richard-hofstadter-12288.jpg" --- ![Portrait of Richard Hofstadter](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/uploads/sms4s/authors/processed/b089/author-richard-hofstadter-12288.jpg) # Richard Hofstadter (1916–1970) Historian **55** quotes in **348** categories Rate this collection: ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet Richard Hofstadter was a historian, best known for *Anti-intellectualism in American life*. ## Quick Facts About Richard Hofstadter Born August 6, 1916 Died October 24, 1970 Profession Historian Notable works Anti-intellectualism in American life ## About Richard Hofstadter Richard Hofstadter was an American historian and public intellectual. Hofstadter was the DeWitt Clinton Professor of American History at Columbia University. Rejecting his earlier historical materialist approach to history, in the 1950s he came closer to the concept of "consensus history", and was epitomized by some of his admirers as the "iconic historian of postwar liberal consensus." Others see in his work an early critique of the one-dimensional society, since he was equally critical of socialist and capitalist models of society, and bemoaned the "consensus" within the society as "bounded by the horizons of property and entrepreneurship", criticizing the "hegemonic liberal capitalist culture running throughout the course of American history". ## Quotes by Richard Hofstadter · Page 2 > [As with the pursuit of happiness, the pursuit of truth is itself gratifying whereas the consummation often turns out to be elusive.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-hofstadter/as-with-the-pursuit-of-happiness-the-pursuit-of-truth-is-itself/) [Richard Hofstadter](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-hofstadter/) [Elusive](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/elusive/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/068/richard-hofstadter-12288_elusive_as-with-the-pursuit-of-happiness-the-pur_2887782.png) > [If there is anything more dangerous to the life of the mind than having no independent commitment to ideas, it is having…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-hofstadter/if-there-is-anything-more-dangerous-to-the-life-of-the-mind-than/) [Richard Hofstadter](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-hofstadter/) [Commitment](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/commitment/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/501/richard-hofstadter-12288_commitment_if-there-is-anything-more-dangerous-to-t_1084039.png) > [If for every error and every act of incompetence one can substitute an act of treason, many points of fascinating interpretation are…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-hofstadter/if-for-every-error-and-every-act-of-incompetence-one-can-substitute/) [Richard Hofstadter](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-hofstadter/) [Errors](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/errors/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c93/richard-hofstadter-12288_errors_if-for-every-error-and-every-act-of-inco_1645420.png) > [There has always been in our national experience a type of mind which elevates hatred to a kind of creed; for this…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-hofstadter/there-has-always-been-in-our-national-experience-a-type-of-mind-which/) [Richard Hofstadter](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-hofstadter/) [Class](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/class/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/d8a/richard-hofstadter-12288_class_there-has-always-been-in-our-national-ex_683492.jpg) > [A university is not a service station. Neither is it a political society, nor a meeting place for political societies. With all…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-hofstadter/a-university-is-not-a-service-station-neither-is-it-a-political/) [Richard Hofstadter](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-hofstadter/) [Aim](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/aim/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/cd6/richard-hofstadter-12288_aim_a-university-is-not-a-service-station-ne_2507800.png) > [The idea of the paranoid style as a force in politics would have little contemporary relevance or historical value if it were…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-hofstadter/the-idea-of-the-paranoid-style-as-a-force-in-politics-would-have/) [Richard Hofstadter](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-hofstadter/) [Contemporary](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/contemporary/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/768/richard-hofstadter-12288_contemporary_the-idea-of-the-paranoid-style-as-a-forc_1437145.png) > [Intellect needs to be understood not as some kind of claim against the other human excellences for which a fatally high price…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-hofstadter/intellect-needs-to-be-understood-not-as-some-kind-of-claim-against/) [Richard Hofstadter](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-hofstadter/) [Claims](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/claims/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/0fe/richard-hofstadter-12288_claims_intellect-needs-to-be-understood-not-as_2411232.png) > [“What came in the end was only a small war and a quick victory; when the farmers and the gentlemen finally did…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-hofstadter/what-came-in-the-end-was-only-a-small-war-and-a-quick-victory-when/) [Richard Hofstadter](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-hofstadter/) [20th century](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/20th-century/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/aca/richard-hofstadter-12288_20th-century_what-came-in-the-end-was-only-a-small-wa_2597952.png) > [“Progressivism, in short, was to a very considerable extent led by men who suffered from the events of their time not through…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-hofstadter/progressivism-in-short-was-to-a-very-considerable-extent-led-by-men/) [Richard Hofstadter](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-hofstadter/) [Deference](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/deference/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/814/richard-hofstadter-12288_deference_progressivism-in-short-was-to-a-very-con_1136677.png) > [Whatever the intellectual is too certain of, if he is healthily playful, he begins to find unsatisfactory. The meaning of his intellectual…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-hofstadter/whatever-the-intellectual-is-too-certain-of-if-he-is-healthily/) [Richard Hofstadter](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-hofstadter/) [Certain](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/certain/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/289/richard-hofstadter-12288_certain_whatever-the-intellectual-is-too-certain_2154685.jpg) > [“Tocqueville saw that the life of constant action and decision which was entailed by the democratic and businesslike character of American life…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-hofstadter/tocqueville-saw-that-the-life-of-constant-action-and-decision-which/) [Richard Hofstadter](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-hofstadter/) [American life](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/american-life/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/d4d/richard-hofstadter-12288_american-life_tocqueville-saw-that-the-life-of-constan_1657625.jpg) > [The intellectual ... may live for ideas, as I have said, but something must prevent him from living for one idea, from…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-hofstadter/the-intellectual-may-live-for-ideas-as-i-have-said-but-something-must/) [Richard Hofstadter](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-hofstadter/) [Becoming](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/becoming/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/4a7/richard-hofstadter-12288_becoming_the-intellectual-may-live-for-ideas-as-i_3173741.png) > [It is possible that the distinction between moral relativism and moral absolutism has sometimes been blurred because an excessively consistent practice of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-hofstadter/it-is-possible-that-the-distinction-between-moral-relativism-and/) [Richard Hofstadter](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-hofstadter/) [Absolutism](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/absolutism/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/1c4/richard-hofstadter-12288_absolutism_it-is-possible-that-the-distinction-betw_635083.png) > [Anti-intellectualism ... has been present in some form and degree in most societies; in one it takes the form of the administering…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-hofstadter/anti-intellectualism-has-been-present-in-some-form-and-degree-in-most/) [Richard Hofstadter](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-hofstadter/) [Censorship](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/censorship/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/bab/richard-hofstadter-12288_censorship_anti-intellectualism-has-been-present-in_2673007.jpg) > [The intellectual's ... playfulness, in its various manifestations, is likely to seem to most men a perverse luxury; in the United States…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-hofstadter/the-intellectual-s-playfulness-in-its-various-manifestations-is/) [Richard Hofstadter](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-hofstadter/) [Dangerous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/dangerous/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/9f1/richard-hofstadter-12288_dangerous_the-intellectual-s-playfulness-in-its-va_766826.png) ## Richard Hofstadter by topic [Intellectual (10)](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/intellectual/richard-hofstadter/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "ItemList", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-hofstadter/#itemlist", "name": "Richard Hofstadter Quotes", "numberOfItems": 15, "itemListElement": [ { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 1, "item": { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "As with the pursuit of happiness, the pursuit of truth is itself gratifying whereas the consummation often turns out to be elusive.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Richard Hofstadter" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-hofstadter/as-with-the-pursuit-of-happiness-the-pursuit-of-truth-is-itself/", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/068/richard-hofstadter-12288_elusive_as-with-the-pursuit-of-happiness-the-pur_2887782.png", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/068/richard-hofstadter-12288_elusive_as-with-the-pursuit-of-happiness-the-pur_2887782.png", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/068/richard-hofstadter-12288_elusive_as-with-the-pursuit-of-happiness-the-pur_2887782.png", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“As with the pursuit of happiness, the pursuit of truth is itself gratifying whereas the consummation often…” — Richard Hofstadter", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } } }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 2, "item": { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "If there is anything more dangerous to the life of the mind than having no independent commitment to ideas, it is having an excess of commitment to some special and constricting idea.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Richard Hofstadter" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-hofstadter/if-there-is-anything-more-dangerous-to-the-life-of-the-mind-than/", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/501/richard-hofstadter-12288_commitment_if-there-is-anything-more-dangerous-to-t_1084039.png", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/501/richard-hofstadter-12288_commitment_if-there-is-anything-more-dangerous-to-t_1084039.png", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/501/richard-hofstadter-12288_commitment_if-there-is-anything-more-dangerous-to-t_1084039.png", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“If there is anything more dangerous to the life of the mind than having no independent commitment to ideas…” — Richard Hofstadter", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } } }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 3, "item": { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "If for every error and every act of incompetence one can substitute an act of treason, many points of fascinating interpretation are open to the paranoid imagination.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Richard Hofstadter" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-hofstadter/if-for-every-error-and-every-act-of-incompetence-one-can-substitute/", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c93/richard-hofstadter-12288_errors_if-for-every-error-and-every-act-of-inco_1645420.png", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c93/richard-hofstadter-12288_errors_if-for-every-error-and-every-act-of-inco_1645420.png", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c93/richard-hofstadter-12288_errors_if-for-every-error-and-every-act-of-inco_1645420.png", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“If for every error and every act of incompetence one can substitute an act of treason, many points of…” — Richard Hofstadter", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } } }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "item": { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "There has always been in our national experience a type of mind which elevates hatred to a kind of creed; for this mind, group hatreds take a place in politics similar to the class struggle in some other modern societies.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Richard Hofstadter" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-hofstadter/there-has-always-been-in-our-national-experience-a-type-of-mind-which/", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/d8a/richard-hofstadter-12288_class_there-has-always-been-in-our-national-ex_683492.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/d8a/richard-hofstadter-12288_class_there-has-always-been-in-our-national-ex_683492.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/d8a/richard-hofstadter-12288_class_there-has-always-been-in-our-national-ex_683492.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“There has always been in our national experience a type of mind which elevates hatred to a kind of creed…” — Richard Hofstadter", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } } }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 5, "item": { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "A university is not a service station. Neither is it a political society, nor a meeting place for political societies. With all its limitations and failures, and they are invariably many, it is the best and most benign side of our society insofar as that society aims to cherish the human mind.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Richard Hofstadter" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-hofstadter/a-university-is-not-a-service-station-neither-is-it-a-political/", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/cd6/richard-hofstadter-12288_aim_a-university-is-not-a-service-station-ne_2507800.png", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/cd6/richard-hofstadter-12288_aim_a-university-is-not-a-service-station-ne_2507800.png", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/cd6/richard-hofstadter-12288_aim_a-university-is-not-a-service-station-ne_2507800.png", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“A university is not a service station. 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It is the use of paranoid modes of expression by more or less normal people that makes the phenomenon significant.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Richard Hofstadter" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-hofstadter/the-idea-of-the-paranoid-style-as-a-force-in-politics-would-have/", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/768/richard-hofstadter-12288_contemporary_the-idea-of-the-paranoid-style-as-a-forc_1437145.png", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/768/richard-hofstadter-12288_contemporary_the-idea-of-the-paranoid-style-as-a-forc_1437145.png", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/768/richard-hofstadter-12288_contemporary_the-idea-of-the-paranoid-style-as-a-forc_1437145.png", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“The idea of the paranoid style as a force in politics would have little contemporary relevance or historical…” — Richard Hofstadter", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } } }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 7, "item": { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "Intellect needs to be understood not as some kind of claim against the other human excellences for which a fatally high price has to be paid, but rather as a complement to them without which they cannot be fully consummated.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Richard Hofstadter" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-hofstadter/intellect-needs-to-be-understood-not-as-some-kind-of-claim-against/", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/0fe/richard-hofstadter-12288_claims_intellect-needs-to-be-understood-not-as_2411232.png", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/0fe/richard-hofstadter-12288_claims_intellect-needs-to-be-understood-not-as_2411232.png", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/0fe/richard-hofstadter-12288_claims_intellect-needs-to-be-understood-not-as_2411232.png", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“Intellect needs to be understood not as some kind of claim against the other human excellences for which a…” — Richard Hofstadter", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } } }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 8, "item": { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“What came in the end was only a small war and a quick victory; when the farmers and the gentlemen finally did coalesce in politics, they produced only the genial reforms of Progressivism; and the man on the white horse turned out to be just a graduate of the Harvard boxing squad, equipped with an immense bag of platitudes, and quite willing to play the democratic game.”", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Richard Hofstadter" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-hofstadter/what-came-in-the-end-was-only-a-small-war-and-a-quick-victory-when/", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/aca/richard-hofstadter-12288_20th-century_what-came-in-the-end-was-only-a-small-wa_2597952.png", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/aca/richard-hofstadter-12288_20th-century_what-came-in-the-end-was-only-a-small-wa_2597952.png", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/aca/richard-hofstadter-12288_20th-century_what-came-in-the-end-was-only-a-small-wa_2597952.png", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“What came in the end was only a small war and a quick victory; 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The meaning of his intellectual life lies not in the possession of truth but in the quest for new uncertainties.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Richard Hofstadter" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-hofstadter/whatever-the-intellectual-is-too-certain-of-if-he-is-healthily/", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/289/richard-hofstadter-12288_certain_whatever-the-intellectual-is-too-certain_2154685.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/289/richard-hofstadter-12288_certain_whatever-the-intellectual-is-too-certain_2154685.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/289/richard-hofstadter-12288_certain_whatever-the-intellectual-is-too-certain_2154685.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“Whatever the intellectual is too certain of, if he is healthily playful, he begins to find unsatisfactory…” — Richard Hofstadter", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } } }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 11, "item": { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“Tocqueville saw that the life of constant action and decision which was entailed by the democratic and businesslike character of American life put a premium upon rough and ready habits of mind, quick decision, and the prompt seizure of opportunities - and that all this activity was not propitious for deliberation, elaboration, or precision in thought.”", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Richard Hofstadter" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-hofstadter/tocqueville-saw-that-the-life-of-constant-action-and-decision-which/", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/d4d/richard-hofstadter-12288_american-life_tocqueville-saw-that-the-life-of-constan_1657625.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/d4d/richard-hofstadter-12288_american-life_tocqueville-saw-that-the-life-of-constan_1657625.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/d4d/richard-hofstadter-12288_american-life_tocqueville-saw-that-the-life-of-constan_1657625.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“Tocqueville saw that the life of constant action and decision which was entailed by the democratic and…” — Richard Hofstadter", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } } }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 12, "item": { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "The intellectual ... may live for ideas, as I have said, but something must prevent him from living for one idea, from becoming obsessive or grotesque. 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