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Description
Eric Hoffer--one of America's most important thinkers and the author of The True Believer--lived for years as a Depression Era migratory worker. Self-taught, his appetite for knowledge--history, science, mankind--formed the basis of his insight to human nature. Nowhere is this more evident... read more
Memorable Quotes
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“We can never be really prepared for that which is wholly new. We have to adjust ourselves, and every radical adjustments a crisis in self-esteem; we undergo a test, we have to prove ourselves. It needs inordinate self-confidence to face drastic change without inner trembling.”
Author -
“The simple fact that we can never be fit and ready for that which is wholly new has some peculiar results. It means that a population undergoing drastic change is a population of misfits, and misfits live and breathe in an atmosphere of passion. There is a close connection between lack of confidence and the passionate state of mind and, as we shall see, passionate intensity may serve as a substitute for confidence.”
Author -
“A population subject to drastic change is a population of misfits--unbalanced, explosive, and hungry for action. Action is the most obvious way by which to gain confidence and prove our worth, and it is also a reaction against loss of balance--a swinging and flailing of the arms to regain one's balance and keep afloat. Thus drastic change is one of the agencies which release man's energies, but certain conditions have to be present if the shock of change is to turn people into effective men of action: There ust be an abundance of opportunities, and there must be a tradition of self-reliance. Given these conditions, a population subjected to drastic changes will plunge into an orgy of action.”
Author
First Sentence
It is my impression that no one really likes the new.
Table of Contents
Authors & Contributors
- Eric Hoffer (Author)
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