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The individual who has to justify his existence by his own efforts is in eternal bondage to himself.

Eric Hoffer

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Eric Hoffer
Age: 84 †
Born: 1898
Born: July 25
Died: 1983
Died: May 21
Philosopher
Psychologist
Writer
New York City
New York
Effort
Existence
Totalitarianism
Literature
Bondage
Individual
Individuality
Justify
Efforts
Eternity
Eternal

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It is often the failure who is the pioneer in new lands, new undertakings, and new forms of expression.
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One of the chief differences between an adult and a juvenile is that the adult knows when he is an ass while the juvenile never does.
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When grubbing for necessities man is still an animal. He becomes uniquely human when he reaches out for the superfluous and extravagant.
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EVERY intense desire is perhaps basically a desire to be different from what we are.
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An empty head is not really empty it is stuffed with rubbish. Hence the difficulty of forcing anything into an empty head.
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Our frustration is greater when we have much and want more than when we have nothing and want some. We are less dissatisfied when we lack many things than when we seem to lack but one thing.
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Quite often the social doctors become part of the disease.
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The wise learn from the experience of others, and the creative know how to make a crumb of experience go a long way.
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The suspicious mind believes more than it doubts. It believes in a formidable and ineradicable evil lurking in every person.
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The sense of inferiority inherent in the act of imitation breeds resentment. The impulse of the imitators is to overcome the model they imitate.
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