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The poor on the borderline of starvation live purposeful lives. To be engaged in a desperate struggle for food and shelter is to be wholly free from a sense of futility

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
Sense
Desperate
Live
Engaged
Poverty
Borderline
Struggle
Purposeful
Food
Futility
Poor
Starvation
Free
Wholly
Lives
Shelter

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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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Craving, not having, is the mother of a reckless giving of oneself.
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Many of the insights of the saint stem from his experience as a sinner.
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Mass movements do not usually rise until the prevailing order has been discredited.
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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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The compulsion to take ourselves seriously is in inverse proportion to our creative capacity. When the creative flow dries up, all we have left is our importance.
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We clamor for equality chiefly in matters in which we ourselves cannot hope to obtain excellence.
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It needs fanatical faith to rationalize our cowardice.
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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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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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It is often the failure who is the pioneer in new lands, new undertakings, and new forms of expression.
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When people are bored it is primarily with themselves.
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When our individual interests and prospects do not seem worth living for, we are in desperate need for something apart from us to live for. All forms of dedication, devotion, loyalty and self-surrender are in essence a desperate clinging to something which might give worth and meaning to our futile, spoiled lives.
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