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You cannot gauge the intelligence of an American by talking with him you must work with him. The American polishes and refines his way of doing things-even the most commonplace-the way the French of the 17th century polished their maxims.

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
Way
Century
Gauge
Things
Talking
Gauges
American
Polished
Cannot
Maxims
America
Commonplace
Must
Polish
Even
French
Polishes
Work
Intelligence
Refines

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The taint inherent in absolute power is not its inhumanity but its antihumanity.
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Faith is primarily a process of identification the process by which the individual ceases to be himself and becomes part of something eternal.
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The majority prove their worth by keeping busy. A busy life is the nearest thing to a purposeful life.
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EVERY intense desire is perhaps basically a desire to be different from what we are.
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You accept certain unlovely things about yourself and manage to live with them. The atonement for such an acceptance is that you make allowances for others - that you cleanse yourself of the sin of self-righteousness.
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Compassion is the antitoxin of the soul.
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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 the awareness of unfulfilled desires which gives a nation the feeling that it has a mission and a destiny.
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The game of history is usually played by the best and the worst over the heads of the majority in the middle.
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Language was invented to ask questions.
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The misery of a child is interesting to a mother, the misery of a young man is interesting to a young woman, the misery of an old man is interesting to nobody.
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It is apparently vital that we should be in the dark about ourselves not to be clear about our intentions, fears, and hopes. There is a stubborn effort in us to set up a compact screen between consciousness and the self.
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Many of the insights of the saint stem from his experience as a sinner.
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Compassion is the antitoxin of the soul: where there is compassion even the most poisonous impulses remain relatively harmless.
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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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A society that refuses to strive for superfluities is likely to end up lacking in necessities.
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Faith in a holy cause is to a considerable extent a substitute for lost faith in ourselves.
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