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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.

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
Men
Access
Infallible
Source
Plunge
Leader
Intensely
Headlong
Feeling
Irresistible
Discontented
Feelings
Vast
Destitute
Change
Doctrine
Undertaking
Power
Technique
Undertakings
Must
Possession
Potent

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A heresy can spring only from a system that is in full vigor.
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To have a grievance is to have a purpose in life. It not infrequently happens that those who hunger for hope give their allegiance to him who offers them a grievance.
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The genuine artist is as much a dissatisfied person as the revolutionary, yet how diametrically opposed are the products each distills from his dissatisfaction.
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The chief difference between me and others is that I have plenty of time not only because I am without a multitude of responsibilities and without daily tasks, which demand attention: But also because I am basically without ambition. Neither the present nor the future has claims on me.
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However different the holy causes people die for, they perhaps die basically for the same thing.
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It is easier to hate an enemy with much good in him than one who is all bad. We cannot hate those we despise.
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Youth itself is a talent, a perishable talent.
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When our individual interests and prospects do not seem worth living for, we are in desperate need for something apart from us to live for. All forms of dedication, devotion, loyalty and self-surrender are in essence a desperate clinging to something which might give worth and meaning to our futile, spoiled lives.
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Those who feel guilty are afraid and those who are afraid somehow feel guilty. To the onlooker, too, the fearful seem guilty.
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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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For many people, an excuse is better than an achievement because an achievement, no matter how great, leaves you having to prove yourself again in the future but an excuse can last for life.
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An easygoing person is probably more accessible to the realization of eternity--the endless flow of life and death--than one who takes his prospects and duties overseriously. It is the overserious who are truly frivolous.
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We are unified both by hating in common and by being hated in common.
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Nationalist pride, like other variants of pride, can be a substitute for self-respect.
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Nothing comes easily. My work smells of sweat.
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There is always a chance that he who sets himself up as his brother's keeper will end up by being his jail-keeper.
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Unless a man has the talents to make something of himself, freedom is an irksome burden.
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People haunted by the purposelessness of their lives try to find a new content not only by dedicating themselves to a holy cause but also by nursing a fanatical grievance. A mass movement offers them unlimited opportunities for both.
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The fear of becoming a 'has-been' keeps some people from becoming anything.
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Actual creativeness is a matter of moments. One has to piece together the minute grains to make a lump. And it is so easy to miss the momentary flashes, it is like sluicing in placer mining. He who lets the flakes float by has nothing to show for his trouble.
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