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There is a tendency to judge a race, a nation or any distinct group by its leastworthy members.

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
Judging
Members
Groups
Distinct
Nation
Tendency
Race
Tendencies
Nations
Tolerance
Judge
Group

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The hardest thing to cope with is not selfishness or vanity or deceitfulness, but sheer stupidity.
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The difficult and risky task of meeting and mastering the new . . . is not undertaken by the vanguard of society but by its rear. It is the misfits, failures, fugitives, outcasts and their like who are among the first to grapple with the new.
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We clamor for equality chiefly in matters in which we ourselves cannot hope to obtain excellence.
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The fear of becoming a 'has-been' keeps some people from becoming anything.
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People unfit for freedom - who cannot do much with it - are hungry for power. The desire for freedom is an attribute of a have type of self. It says: leave me alone and I shall grow, learn, and realize my capacities. The desire for power is basically an attribute of a have not type of self.
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That which corrodes the souls of the persecuted is the monstrous inner agreement with the prevailing prejudice against them.
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The intellectuals and the young, booted and spurred, feel themselves born to ride us.
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The effectiveness of a doctrine does not come from its meaning but from its certitude. No doctrine however profound and sublime will be effective unless it is presented as the embodiment of the one and only truth
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The most troublesome problem which confronts social engineering is how to provide for the untalented and, what is equally important, how to provide against them.
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A man is likely to mind his own business when it is worth minding.
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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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