Eric Hoffer

“Every new adjustment is a crisis in self-esteem.”

“Treasure the memories of past misfortunes; they constitute our bank of fortitude.”

“The genuine artist is as much a dissatisfied person as the revolutionary, yet how diametrically opposed are the products each distills from his dissatisfaction.”

“Many of the insights of the saint stem from his experience as a sinner.”

“Fear comes from uncertainty. When we are absolutely certain, whether of our worth or worthlessness, we are almost impervious to fear. Thus a feeling of utter unworthiness can be a source of...”

“We do not really feel grateful toward those who make our dreams come true; they ruin our dreams.”

“It is the around-the-corner brand of hope that prompts people to action, while the distant hope acts as an opiate.”

“There is a radicalism in all getting, and a conservatism in all keeping. Lovemaking is radical, while marriage is conservative.”

“To have a grievance is to have a purpose in life.”

“The passion to get ahead is sometimes born of the fear lest we be left behind.”

“It is the malady of our age that the young are so busy teaching us that they have no time left to learn.”

“People in a hurry cannot think, cannot grow, nor can they decay. They are preserved in a state of perpetual puerility.”

“We are made kind by being kind.”

“However much we guard against it, we tend to shape ourselves in the image others have of us.”

“It is always safe to assume that people are more subtle and less sensitive than they seem.”

“Every great cause begins as a movement, becomes a business, and eventually degenerates into a racket.”

“There would be no society if living together depended upon understanding each other.”

“The search for happiness is one of the chief sources of unhappiness.”

“The opposite of the religious fanatic is not the fanatical atheist but the gentle cynic who cares not whether there is a god or not.”

“We are told that talent creates its own opportunities. But it sometimes seems that intense desire creates not only its own opportunities but its own talents.”