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The basic test of freedom is perhaps less in what we are free to do than in what we are free not to do.

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
Free
Less
Test
Basic
Tests
Perhaps
Freedom

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The desire to be different from the people we live with is sometimes the result of our rejection- real or imagined- by them.
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Unlimited opportunities can be as potent a cause of frustration as a paucity or lack of opportunities.
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Those in possession of absolute power can not only prophesy and make their prophecies come true, but they can also lie and make their lies come true.
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When we do not do the one thing we ought to do, we have no time for anything else - we are the busiest people in the world.
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The conservatism of a religion - it's orthodoxy - is the inert coagulum of a once highly reactive sap.
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It is when power is wedded to chronic fear that it becomes formidable.
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Often, the thing we pursue most passionately is but a substitute for the one thing we really want and cannot have.
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Craving, not having, is the mother of a reckless giving of oneself.
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The self-despisers are less intent on their own increase than on the diminution of others. Where self-esteem is unobtainable, envy takes the place of greed.
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To the creative individual all experience is seminal-all events are equidistant from new ideasand insights.
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Lack of sensitivity is perhaps basically an unawareness of ourselves.
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A successful social technique consists perhaps in finding unobjectionable means for individual self-assertion.
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Where unity and self-sacrifice are indispensable for the normal functioning of society, everyday life is likely to be either religiofied (common tasks turned into holy causes) or militarized.
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We are ready to die for an opinion but not for a fact: indeed, it is by our readiness to die that we try to prove the factualness of our opinion.
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However different the holy causes people die for, they perhaps die basically for the same thing.
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We need not only a purpose in life to give meaning to our existence but also something to give meaning to our suffering. We need as much something to suffer for as something to live for.
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We clamor for equality chiefly in matters in which we ourselves cannot hope to obtain excellence.
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Love-making is radical, while marriage is conservative.
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We feel free when we escape - even if it be but from the frying pan to the fire.
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People whose lives are barren and insecure seem to show a greater willingness to obey than people who are self-sufficient and self-confident. To the frustrated, freedom from responsibility is more attractive than freedom from restraint.
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