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They who clamor loudest for freedom are often the ones least likely to be happy in a free society.

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
Happy
Freedom
Loudest
Free
Clamor
Often
Believer
Likely
Ones
Least
Society

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Free men are aware of the imperfection inherent in human affairs, and they are willing to fight and die for that which is not perfect.
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To most of us nothing is so invisible as an unpleasant truth. Though it is held before our eyes, pushed under our noses, rammed down our throats- we know it not.
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The less satisfaction we derive from being ourselves, the greater is our desire to be like others.
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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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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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Unpredictability, too, can become monotonous.
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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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Intolerance is the ''Do Not Touch'' sign on something that cannot bear touching. We do not mind having our hair ruffled, but we will not tolerate any familiarity with the toupee which covers our baldness.
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Our frustration is greater when we have much and want more than when we have nothing and want some. We are less dissatisfied when we lack many things than when we seem to lack but one thing.
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Dissipation is a form of self-sacrifice.
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We are ready to die for an opinion but not for a fact: indeed, it is by our readiness to die that we try to prove the factualness of our opinion.
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Unlike the pattern which seems to prevail in the rest of life, in the human species the weak not only survive but often triumph over the strong. The self-hatred inherent in the weak unlocks energies far more formidable then those mobilized by an ordinary struggle for existence.
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The intellectuals and the young, booted and spurred, feel themselves born to ride us.
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If anybody asks me what I have accomplished, I will say all I have accomplished is that I have written a few good sentences.
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Man's chief goal in life is still to become and stay human, and defend his achievements against the encroachment of nature.
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A successful social technique consists perhaps in finding unobjectionable means for individual self-assertion.
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There are many who find a good alibi far more attractive than an achievement. For an achievement does not settle anything permanently. We still have to prove our worth anew each day we have to prove that we are as good today as we were yesterday. But when we have a valid alibi for not achieving anything we are fixed, so to speak, for life.
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It is doubtful whether the oppressed ever fight for freedom. They fight for pride and power-power to oppress others.
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