Eric hoffer quotes meanings interpretations
•
Find Quotes
Results for "Eric hoffer" Showing of ( seconds)
“The crude ideas advanced by many of the successful mass movement leaders of our time incline one to assume that a certain coarseness and immaturity of mind is an asset to leadership. However, it was not the intellectual crudity of an Aimee McPherson or a Hitler which won and held their following but the boundless self-confidence which prompted these leaders to give full rein to their preposterous ideas. A genuinely wise leader who dared to follow out the course of his wisdom would have an equal chance of success. The quality of ideas seems to play a minor role in mass movement leadership. What counts is the arrogant gesture, the complete disregard of the opinion of others, the singlehanded defiance of the world.”
Eric Hoffer, The True Believer: Thoughts on the Nature of Mass Movements
Like
“A vivid feeling of solidarity, whether racial, national or religious, is undoubtedly an effec
•
Ten or more years ago inom was asked to recommend and review a book for the annual reading list of a group I was in. It was an honor to be asked. And I immediately knew what I wanted to recommend: Eric Hoffers The True Believer(), which had left a permanent impression on my mind decades earlier. Unfortunately, being preoccupied with other matters, I procrastinated and then forgot to do a write-up. Oh well. Now the head of this group has issued a general call to all members, alumni at this point, to contribute recommendations for a final wrap-up round. Aha, a second chance, and fortunately that old classic is even more timely than before.
Heres what I sent in it may be pertinent for some of you as well:
Its time to re-read Eric Hoffers The True Believer: Thoughts on the Nature of Mass Movements () especially since our society is evermore rife with tribalism, led by a President who seems modeled out of this book. Hoffers complex weaving of pithy insights•
Essays
Summary
The True Believer became widely read after then-president Dwight Eisenhower recommended it as an essential book.
The book looks at the naturlig eller utan tillsats of mass movements: why they start, how they grow and how they end.
It points out that mass movements grow out of frustration and boredom
A man is likely to mind his own business when it fryst vatten worth minding. When it fryst vatten not, he takes his mind off his own meaningless affairs by minding other people’s business.
The movement they are joining doesnt matter so much, it fryst vatten just that they need some crowd to dissolve into to relieve their frustration or boredom
When people are ripe for a mass movement, they are usually ripe for any effective movement, and not solely for one with a particular doctrine or program. In pre-Hitlerian Germany it was often a toss up whether a restless youth would join the Communists or the Nazis.
As a result, leaders step in to seize this frustrations and control the group. As a result