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A ruling intelligentsia, whether in Europe, Asia or Africa, treats the masses as raw material to be experimented on, processed, and wasted at will.

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
Europe
Asia
Whether
Patriotic
Africa
Experimented
Tyranny
Intelligentsia
Treats
Processed
Material
Wasted
Materials
Ruling
Mass
Masses

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A man's worth is what he is divided by what he thinks he is.
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Those who are in love with the present can be cruel and corrupt but not genuinely vicious. They cannot be methodically and consistently ruthless.
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Freedom released the energies of the masses not by exhilarating but by unbalancing, irritating, and goading.
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The ability to get along without an exceptional leader is the mark of social vigor.
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It is thus with most of us we are what other people say we are. We know ourselves chiefly by hearsay.
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Laughter to begin with was probably glee at the misfortunes of others. The baring of the teeth in laughter hints at its savage ancestry. Animals have no malice, hence also no laughter. They never savor the sudden glory of Schadenfreude. It was its infectious quality that made of laughter a medium of mutuality.
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Unless a man has the talents to make something of himself, freedom is an irksome burden.
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The intellectuals and the young, booted and spurred, feel themselves born to ride us.
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Nowhere at present is there such a measureless loathing of their country by educated people as in America.
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