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We can never have enough of that which we really do not want.

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
Satisfaction
Enough
Really
Never

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Failure in the management of practical affairs seems to be a qualification for success in the management of public affairs.
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The short-lived self, teetering on the edge of extinction, is the only thing that can ever really matter.
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For men to plunge headlong into an undertaking of vast change, they must be intensely discontented yet not destitute, and they must have the feeling that by the possession of some potent doctrine, infallible leader or some new technique they have access to a source of irresistible power.
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Youth itself is a talent, a perishable talent.
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The intellectuals and the young, booted and spurred, feel themselves born to ride us.
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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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That which corrodes the souls of the persecuted is the monstrous inner agreement with the prevailing prejudice against them.
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It is loneliness that makes the loudest noise. This is true of men as of dogs.
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Commitment becomes hysterical when those who have nothing to give advocate generosity, and those who have nothing to give up preach renunciation.
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In a modern society people can live without hope only when kept dazed and out of breath by incessant hustling.
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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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Fair play with others is primarily the practice of not blaming them for anything that is wrong with us. We tend to rub our guilty conscience against others the way we wipe dirty fingers on a rag. This is as evil a misuse of others as the practice of exploitation.
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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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To be fully alive is to feel that everything is possible.
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A heresy can spring only from a system that is in full vigor.
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Woe to him inside a non-conformist clique who does not conform to non-conformity.
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What merit there is in my thinking is derived from two peculiarities: (1) My inability to be familiar with anything. I simply can't take things for granted. (2) My endless patience. I assume that the only way to find an answer is to hang on long enough and keep groping.
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What monstrosities would walk the streets were some people's faces as unfinished as their minds.
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The link between ideas and action is rarely direct. There is almost always an intermediate step in which the idea is overcome.
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The main effect of a real revolution is perhaps that it sweeps away those who do not know how to wish, and brings to the front men with insatiable appetites for action, power and all that the world has to offer.
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