8 Posts found for Author: Eric Hoffer

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.

Author: Eric Hoffer | Subject: Psychology | Behavior

Freedom aggravates at least as much as it alleviates frustration. Freedom of choice places the whole blame of failure on the shoulders of the individual. And as freedom encourages a multiplicity of attempts, it unavoidably multiplies failure.

Author: Eric Hoffer | Subjects: Concepts, Freedom | Liberty

The game of history is usually played by the best and the worst over the heads of the majority in the middle.

Author: Eric Hoffer | Subject: History

An autonomous existence is heavily burdened and beset with fears, and can be endured only when bolstered by confidence and self-esteem. The individual’s most vital need is to prove his worth, and this usually means an insatiable hunger for action.

Author: Eric Hoffer | Source: strategy+business | Subject: Psychology | Behavior

Where self-advancement cannot, or is not allowed to, serve as a driving force, other sources of enthusiasm have to be found if momentous changes, such as the awakening and renovation of a stagnant society or radical reforms in the character and pattern of life of a community, are to be realized and perpetuated.

Author: Eric Hoffer | Source: strategy+business | Subjects: Change, Concepts, Leadership, Life & Society, Psychology | Behavior

Self-doubt is at the core of our being. We need people who by their attitude and words will convince us that we are not as bad as we think we are. Hence the vital role of judicious praise.

Author: Eric Hoffer | Source: strategy+business | Subjects: Leadership, Psychology | Behavior

It is better to be bossed by men of little faith, who set their hearts on toys, than by men animated by lofty ideals who are ready to sacrifice themselves and others for a cause.

Author: Eric Hoffer | Source: strategy+business | Subjects: Leadership, Life & Society

When people are free to do as they please, they usually imitate each other.

Author: Eric Hoffer | Source: Hoffer’s Law | Murphy’s Law | Subjects: Perception | Observation, Psychology | Behavior