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First something is a great idea, then it becomes a cause, then it becomes a business and finally it becomes a racket.

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
Something
Becomes
Causes
Idea
Business
Ideas
Firsts
Racket
First
Finally
Great
Cause

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No matter how noble the objectives of a government, if it blurs decency and kindness, cheapens human life, and breeds ill will and suspicion it is an evil government.
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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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Only the individual who has come to terms with his self can have a dispassionate attitude toward the world.
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I can never forget that one of the most gifted, best educated nations in the world, of its own free will, surrendered its fate into the hands of a maniac.
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One wonders whether a generation that demands instant satisfaction of all its needs and instant solution of the world's problems will produce anything of lasting value. Such a generation, even when equipped with the most modern technology, will be essentially primitive it will stand in awe of nature, and submit to the tutelage of medicine men.
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It is to escape the responsibility for failure that the weak so eagerly throw themselves into grandiose undertakings.
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To dispose a soul to action we must upset its equilibrium.
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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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Failure in the management of practical affairs seems to be a qualification for success in the management of public affairs.
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It is also plausible that those movements with the greatest inner contradiction and between profession and practice - that is to say with a strong feeling of guilt - are likely to be the most fervent in imposing their faith on others.
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We cannot hate those who we despise.
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Our greatest pretenses are built up not to hide the evil and the ugly in us, but our emptiness. The hardest thing to hide is something that is not there.
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It is always safe to assume that people are more subtle and less sensitive than they seem.
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We can never really be prepared for that which is wholly new. We have to adjust ourselves, and every radical adjustment is a crisis in self-esteem: we undergo a test, we have to prove ourselves. It needs subordinate self-confidence to face drastic change without inner trembling.
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People in a hurry cannot think, cannot grow, nor can they decay. They are preserved in a state of perpetual puerility.
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There is no loneliness greater than the loneliness of a failure. The failure is a stranger in his own house.
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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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Animals can learn, but it is not by learning that they become dogs, cats, or horses. Only man has to learn to become what he is supposed to be.
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The only way to predict the future is to have power to shape the future.
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The technique of a mass movement aims to infect people with a malady and then offer the movement as a cure.
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