The nature of a society is largely determined by the direction in which talent and ambition flow – by the tilt of the social landscapes.
Eric Hoffer Quotes
It is cheering to see that the rats are still around – the ship is not sinking.
The Paleolithic hunters who painted the unsurpassed animal murals on the ceiling of the cave at Altamira had only rudimentary tools. Art is older than production for use, and play older than work. Man was shaped less by what he had to do than by what he did in playful moments. It is the child […]
A feeling of utter worthlessness levels a man’s attitude toward his fellow beings. He views the whole of humanity as being of one kind. He will despise equally those who love him and those who hate him, those who are noble and those who are mean, those who are compassionate and those who are cruel. […]
When people are free to do as they please, they usually imitate each other. Originality is deliberate and forced, and partakes of the nature of a protest.
It is doubtful if the oppressed ever fight for freedom. They fight for pride and for power – power to oppress others. The oppressed want above all to imitate their oppressors; they want to retaliate.
It still holds true that man is most uniquely human when he turns obstacles into opportunities.
To grow old is to grow common. Old age equalizes – we are aware that what is happening to us has happened to untold numbers from the beginning of time. When we are young we act as if we were the first young people in the world.
The end comes when we no longer talk with ourselves. It is the end of genuine thinking and the beginning of the final loneliness.
To spell out the obvious is often to call it into question.
