We lie the loudest when we lie to ourselves.

About Eric Hoffer

Portrait of Eric Hoffer

Eric Hoffer (July 25, 1902 – May 21, 1983) was an American philosopher and social critic. A moderate with an atypical working-class background, Hoffer wrote ten books over his career and was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom in February 1983. His first book, The True Believer (1951), was widely...

More quotations from Eric Hoffer

It still holds true that man is most uniquely human when he turns obstacles into opportunities.

Action is at bottom a swinging and flailing of the arms to regain one's balance and keep afloat.

Absolute faith corrupts as absolutely as absolute power.

power faith corruption absolutes

Where there is the necessary technical skill to move mountains, there is no need for the faith that moves mountains.

skill faith mountains

There are similarities between absolute power and absolute faith: a demand for absolute obedience, a readiness to attempt the impossible, a bias for simple solutionsto cut the knot rather than unravel it, the viewing of compromise as surrender. Both absolute power and absolute faith are instruments of dehumanization. Hence, absolute faith corrupts as absolutely as absolute power.

History

1 Nov 2024 Added