--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: People haunted by the purposelessness of…" description: "\"People haunted by the purposelessness of their lives try to find a new content not only by dedicating themselves to a holy cause but also by nursing a ..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/66c/eric-hoffer-343_causes_people-haunted-by-the-purposelessness-of_451306.jpg" --- # People haunted by the purposelessness of their lives try… ![“People haunted by the purposelessness of their lives try to find a new content not only by dedicating themselves to a holy cause but also by nursing a fanatical grievance. A mass movement offers them unlimited opportunities for both.” quote by Eric Hoffer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/66c/eric-hoffer-343_causes_people-haunted-by-the-purposelessness-of_451306.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/66c/eric-hoffer-343_causes_people-haunted-by-the-purposelessness-of_451306.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/66c/eric-hoffer-343_causes_people-haunted-by-the-purposelessness-of_451306.jpg) > “People haunted by the purposelessness of their lives try to find a new content not only by dedicating themselves to a holy cause but also by nursing a fanatical grievance. A mass movement offers them unlimited opportunities for both.” [Eric Hoffer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eric-hoffer/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. People lacking purpose seek meaning through extreme causes or grievances, and mass movements provide both outlets. **In simple terms:** People find purpose in extreme causes or grievances. Key Takeaway Seek meaning without extremist paths. Themes purpose mass movements extremism identity psychology Mood reflective critical Type philosophical analytical When to use this quote - political activism - personal crisis - community building Key Concepts nihilism collective identity radicalization Questions to Reflect On - What drives you to seek purpose? - How can you find meaning health? A Different Perspective Extremism can lead to harm and loss of individuality. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Grievance](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/grievance/) [Holy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/holy/) [Mass](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/mass/) [Movement](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/movement/) [Nursing](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/nursing/) [Opportunity](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/opportunity/) [People](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/people/) [Purpose](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/purpose/) [Purposelessness](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/purposelessness/) ## Related quotes > [“Passionate hatreds can give meaning and purpose to an empty life. These people haunted by the purposelessness of their lives try to find a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eric-hoffer/passionate-hatreds-can-give-meaning-and-purpose-to-an-empty-life-2/) [Eric Hoffer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eric-hoffer/) > [Passionate hatreds can give meaning and purpose to an empty life. These people haunted by the purposelessness of their lives try to find a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eric-hoffer/passionate-hatreds-can-give-meaning-and-purpose-to-an-empty-life/) [Eric Hoffer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eric-hoffer/) > [“Faith in a holy cause is to a considerable extent a substitute for the lost faith in ourselves.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eric-hoffer/faith-in-a-holy-cause-is-to-a-considerable-extent-a-substitute-for/) [Eric Hoffer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eric-hoffer/) > [The technique of a mass movement aims to infect people with a malady and then offer the movement as a cure.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eric-hoffer/the-technique-of-a-mass-movement-aims-to-infect-people-with-a-malady/) [Eric Hoffer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eric-hoffer/) > [A rising mass movement attracts and holds a following not by its doctrine and promises but by the refuge it offers from the anxieties,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eric-hoffer/a-rising-mass-movement-attracts-and-holds-a-following-not-by-its/) [Eric Hoffer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eric-hoffer/) > [There can be no mass movement without some deliberate misrepresentation of facts.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eric-hoffer/there-can-be-no-mass-movement-without-some-deliberate/) [Eric Hoffer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eric-hoffer/) > [Having lost faith in all else, zealots have nothing left but a holy cause to please a warrior God. They win if we become…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bill-moyers/having-lost-faith-in-all-else-zealots-have-nothing-left-but-a-holy/) [Bill Moyers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bill-moyers/) > [Three millions of people, armed in the holy cause of liberty, and in such a country as that which we possess, are invincible by…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/patrick-henry/three-millions-of-people-armed-in-the-holy-cause-of-liberty-and-in/) [Patrick Henry](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/patrick-henry/) > [It is part of the formidableness of a genuine mass movement that the self-sacrifice it promotes includes also a sacrifice of some of the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eric-hoffer/it-is-part-of-the-formidableness-of-a-genuine-mass-movement-that-the/) [Eric Hoffer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eric-hoffer/) > [The quality of ideas seems to play a minor role in mass movement leadership. 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What starts out here as a mass…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eric-hoffer/up-to-now-america-has-not-been-a-good-milieu-for-the-rise-of-a-mass/) [Eric Hoffer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eric-hoffer/) > [“The permanent misfits can find salvation only in a complete separation from the self; and they usually find it by losing themselves in the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eric-hoffer/the-permanent-misfits-can-find-salvation-only-in-a-complete/) [Eric Hoffer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eric-hoffer/) > [God is not averse to deceit in a holy cause.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aeschylus/god-is-not-averse-to-deceit-in-a-holy-cause/) [Aeschylus](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aeschylus/) ## More by Eric Hoffer > [The truth seems to be that propaganda on its own cannot force its way into unwilling minds; neither can it inculcate something wholly new;…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eric-hoffer/the-truth-seems-to-be-that-propaganda-on-its-own-cannot-force-its-way/) [Eric Hoffer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eric-hoffer/) > [When grubbing for necessities man is still an animal. He becomes uniquely human when he reaches out for the superfluous and extravagant.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eric-hoffer/when-grubbing-for-necessities-man-is-still-an-animal-he-becomes/) [Eric Hoffer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eric-hoffer/) > [“We lie the loudest when we lie to ourselves.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eric-hoffer/we-lie-the-loudest-when-we-lie-to-ourselves/) [Eric Hoffer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eric-hoffer/) > [Our originality shows itself most strikingly not in what we wholly originate but in what we do with that which we borrow from others.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eric-hoffer/our-originality-shows-itself-most-strikingly-not-in-what-we-wholly/) [Eric Hoffer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eric-hoffer/) > [The creative mind is the playful mind. 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The desire for praise is more imperative than the desire for food and shelter](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eric-hoffer/this-food-and-shelter-theory-concerning-man-s-efforts-is-without/) [Eric Hoffer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eric-hoffer/) [Explore all 658 Eric Hoffer quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eric-hoffer/) ## More Causes quotes > [It appears to me that one great cause of our difference in opinion on subjects which we often discuss is that you have always…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-ricardo/it-appears-to-me-that-one-great-cause-of-our-difference-in-opinion-on/) [David Ricardo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-ricardo/) > [I pray that wherever we are and whatever duties we have in the priesthood of God, we will be united in the cause to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henry-b-eyring/i-pray-that-wherever-we-are-and-whatever-duties-we-have-in-the/) [Henry B. 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