True Believer Quotes

• We can be absolutely certain only about things we do not understand.

  Eric Hoffer

  Thinking, Certain, Agnosticism

  The True Believer Part 3, Chapter XII, Section 57 (p. 79)

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• True believers aren't about to be seduced by the facts.

  Gary Sloan

  Religion, Atheism, Facts

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• The hardest arithmetic to master is that which enables us to count our blessings.

  Eric Hoffer

  Thank You, Thankful, Gratitude

  "Reflections on the Human Condition" by Eric Hoffer, (Section 172), 1973.

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• Passionate hatred can give meaning and purpose to an empty life.

  Eric Hoffer

  Life, Hate, Giving

  Eric Hoffer (1951). “The True Believer: Thoughts on the Nature of Mass Movements”, New York : Harper

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• You can discover what your enemy fears most by observing the means he uses to frighten you.

  Eric Hoffer

  Clever, Fear, Halloween

  Eric Hoffer (1955). “The passionate state of mind, and other aphorisms”

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• Absolute faith corrupts as absolutely as absolute power.

  Eric Hoffer

  Inspirational, Faith, Atheist

  Eric Hoffer (1982). “Between the Devil and the Dragon: The Best Essays and Aphorisms of Eric Hoffer”, HarperCollins Publishers

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• The act of self-denial seems to confer on us the right to be harsh and merciless toward others.

  Eric Hoffer

  Self, Denial, Harsh

  Eric Hoffer (1982). “Between the Devil and the Dragon: The Best Essays and Aphorisms of Eric Hoffer”, HarperCollins Publishers

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• Mass movements can rise and spread without belief in a God, but never without belief in a devil.

  Eric Hoffer

  Devil, Movement, Libertarian

  Eric Hoffer (1982). “Between the Devil and the Dragon: The Best Essays and Aphorisms of Eric Hoffer”, HarperCollins Publishers

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• I have repeatedly stressed that the selfish impulses of man constitute a much less historic danger than his integrative tendencies. To put it in the simplest way: the individual who indulges in an excess of aggressive self-assertiveness incurs the penalties of society-he outlaws himself, he contracts out of the hierarchy. The true believer, on the other hand, becomes more closely knit into it; he enters the womb of his church, or party, or whatever the social holon to which he surrenders his identity.

  Arthur Koestler

  Selfish, Party, Men

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

  Eric Hoffer

  Sarcastic, Freedom, Sarcasm

  Passionate State of Mind (1955) p. 21

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• The uncompromising attitude is more indicative of an inner uncertainty than a deep conviction. The implacable stand is directed more against the doubt within than the assailant without.

  Eric Hoffer

  Attitude, Doubt, Conviction

  Eric Hoffer (1982). “Between the Devil and the Dragon: The Best Essays and Aphorisms of Eric Hoffer”, HarperCollins Publishers

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• The less justified a man is in claiming excellence for his own self, the more ready is he to claim all excellence for his nation, his religion, his race or his holy cause.

  Eric Hoffer

  Humility, Men, Self

  Eric Hoffer (2011). “The True Believer: Thoughts on the Nature of Mass Movements”, p.14, Harper Collins

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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.

  Eric Hoffer

  Education, Truth, Ignorance

  Eric Hoffer (1996). “The Passionate State of Mind”

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• Unless a man has the talents to make something of himself, freedom is an irksome burden.

  Eric Hoffer

  Freedom, Men, Liberty

  Eric Hoffer (1980). “The True Believer”

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• We lie loudest when we lie to ourselves.

  Eric Hoffer

  Wisdom, Lying, Lied

  Eric Hoffer (1996). “The Passionate State of Mind”

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• The harder I work the more I live.

  George Bernard Shaw

  Work, Good Luck, True Joy

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• A rising mass movement attracts and holds a following not by its doctrine and promises but by the refuge it offers from the anxieties, barrenness and meaningless of an individual existence. It cures the poignantly frustrated not by conferring upon them an absolute truth or by remedying the difficulties and abuses which made their lives miserable, but by freeing them from their ineffectual selves and it does this by enfolding and absorbing them into a closely knit and exultant corporate whole.

  Eric Hoffer

  Self, Anxiety, Abuse

  Eric Hoffer (1982). “Between the Devil and the Dragon: The Best Essays and Aphorisms of Eric Hoffer”, HarperCollins Publishers

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• When we believe ourselves in possession of the only truth, we are likely to be indifferent to common everyday truths.

  Eric Hoffer

  Believe, Everyday, Common

  Eric Hoffer (1996). “The Passionate State of Mind”

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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

  Clamor, Believer, Free Society

  Eric Hoffer (1982). “Between the Devil and the Dragon: The Best Essays and Aphorisms of Eric Hoffer”, HarperCollins Publishers

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• A grievance is most poignant when almost redressed.

  Eric Hoffer

  Literature, Negotiation, Grievance

  Eric Hoffer (1982). “Between the Devil and the Dragon: The Best Essays and Aphorisms of Eric Hoffer”, HarperCollins Publishers

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• Self-contempt, however vague, sharpens our eyes for the imperfections of others. We usually strive to reveal in others the blemishes we hide in ourselves.

  Eric Hoffer

  Eye, Acceptance, Self

  Eric Hoffer (1980). “The True Believer”

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• It has often been said that power corrupts. But it is perhaps equally important to realize that weakness, too, corrupts. Power corrupts the few, while weakness corrupts the many. Hatred, malice, rudeness, intolerance, and suspicion are the faults of weakness. The resentment of the weak does not spring from any injustice done to them but from their sense of inadequacy and impotence. We cannot win the weak by sharing our wealth with them. They feel our generosity as oppression.

  Eric Hoffer

  Spring, Winning, Power

  "The Passionate State Of Mind, and Other Aphorisms". Book by Eric Hoffer. Section 42, 1955.

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• The passion for equality is partly a passion for anonymity: to be one thread of the many which make up a tunic; one thread not distinguishable from the others. No one can then point us out, measure us against others and expose our inferiority.

  Eric Hoffer

  Passion, Inferiority, Thread

  Eric Hoffer (1980). “The True Believer”

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• Those who see their lives as spoiled and wasted crave equality and fraternity more than they do freedom. If they clamor for freedom, it is but freedom to establish equality and uniformity.

  Eric Hoffer

  Equality, Fraternity, Spoiled

  Eric Hoffer (1980). “The True Believer”

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• The act of self-denial seems to confer on us the right to be harsh and merciless toward others. The impression somehow prevails that the true believer, particularly the religious individual, is a humble person. The truth is that the surrendering and humbling of the self breed pride and arrogance. The true believer is apt to see himself as one of the chosen, the salt of the earth, a prince disguised in meekness, who is destined to inherit this earth and the kingdom of heaven, too. He who is not of his faith is evil; he who will not listen shall perish.

  Eric Hoffer

  Religious, Humility, Humble

  ERIC HOFFER (1963). “THE TRUE BELIEVER”

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