Quote

Action is basically a reaction against loss of balance - a flailing of the arms to to regain one's balance. To dispose a soul to action, we must upset its equilibrium.

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
Must
Reactions
Upset
Basically
Balance
Flailing
Loss
Dispose
Arms
Regain
Action
Equilibrium
Soul
Reaction

More quotes by Eric Hoffer

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The revulsion from an unwanted self, and the impulse to forget it, mask it, slough it off and lose it, produce both a readiness to sacrifice the self and a willingness to dissolve it by losing one's individual distinctness in a compact collective whole.
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It is part of the formidableness of a genuine mass movement that the self-sacrifice it promotes includes also a sacrifice of some of the moral sense, which cramps and restrains our nature.
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Communists are frustrated capitalists.
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In human affairs, the best stimulus for running ahead is to have something we must run from.
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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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Call not that man wretched, who whatever ills he suffers, has a child to love.
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The ideal of self-advancement which the civilizing west offers to backward populations brings with it the plague of individual frustration. All the advantages brought by the West are ineffectual substitutes for the sheltering and soothing anonymity of communal existence.
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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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The Greeks invented logic but were not fooled by it.
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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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Freedom released the energies of the masses not by exhilarating but by unbalancing, irritating, and goading.
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When we believe ourselves in possession of the only truth, we are likely to be indifferent to common everyday truths.
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The true believer, no matter how rowdy and violent his acts, is basically an obedient and submissive person.
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Power corrupts the few, while weakness corrupts the many.
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When we do not do the one thing we ought to do, we have no time for anything else - we are the busiest people in the world.
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Every era has a currency that buys souls. In some the currency is pride, in others it is hope, in still others it is a holy cause. There are of course times when hard cash will buy souls, and the remarkable thing is that such times are marked by civility, tolerance, and the smooth working of everyday life.
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America is still the best country for the common man -- white or black ... if he can't make it here he won't make it anywhere else.
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Self-righteousness is a manifestation of self-contempt.
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Where unity and self-sacrifice are indispensable for the normal functioning of society, everyday life is likely to be either religiofied (common tasks turned into holy causes) or militarized.
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The real Antichrist is he who turns the wine of an original idea into the water of mediocrity.
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