Geburtsdatum | Dienstag, 15. Juli 1902 |
Geburtsort | New York City, New York, US |
Todesort | California |
Sternzeichen | |
Beschreibung | Eric Hoffer (25. Juli 1902 - 21. Mai 1983) war ein amerikanischer Moral- und Sozialphilosoph. Er war Autor von zehn Büchern und wurde im Februar 1983 mit der Presidential Medal of Freedom ausgezeichnet. Sein erstes Buch, The True Believer (1951), wurde weithin als Klassiker anerkannt und von Wissenschaftlern und Laien gleichermaßen gelobt, obwohl Hoffer der Meinung war, dass The Ordeal of Change (1963) sein bestes Werk sei. Der Eric Hoffer Book Award ist ein internationaler Literaturpreis, der ihm zu Ehren ins Leben gerufen wurde. Die University of California, Berkeley, vergibt jährlich einen Literaturpreis, der ebenfalls nach Hoffer benannt ist. |
In times of change learners inherit the earth while the learned find themselves beautifully equipped to deal with a world that no longer exists.
To know a person's religion we need not listen to his profession of faith but must find his brand of intolerance.
Disappointment is a sort of bankruptcy - the bankruptcy of a soul that expends too much in hope and expectation.
The search for happiness is one of the chief sources of unhappiness.
The only way to predict the future is to have power to shape the future.
We have perhaps a natural fear of ends. We would rather be always on the way than arrive. Given the means, we hang on to them and often forget the ends.
Charlatanism of some degree is indispensable to effective leadership.
We do not really feel grateful toward those who make our dreams come true they ruin our dreams.
We used to think that revolutions are the cause of change. Actually it is the other way around: change prepares the ground for revolution.
The game of history is usually played by the best and the worst over the heads of the majority in the middle.
Take away hatred from some people, and you have men without faith.
Where there is the necessary technical skill to move mountains, there is no need for the faith that moves mountains.
Faith in a holy cause is to a considerable extent a substitute for lost faith in ourselves.
We are least open to precise knowledge concerning the things we are most vehement about.
It is a sign of creeping inner death when we can no longer praise the living.
The fear of becoming a 'has-been' keeps some people from becoming anything.
There is no loneliness greater than the loneliness of a failure. The failure is a stranger in his own house.
Many of the insights of the saint stem from their experience as sinners.
The best part of the art of living is to know how to grow old gracefully.
It is the around-the-corner brand of hope that prompts people to action, while the distant hope acts as an opiate.
It is often the failure who is the pioneer in new lands, new undertakings, and new forms of expression.
The savior who wants to turn men into angels is as much a hater of human nature as the totalitarian despot who wants to turn them into puppets.
It is the malady of our age that the young are so busy teaching us that they have no time left to learn.
It is easier to love humanity as a whole than to love one's neighbor.
