What do you think?
Rate this book
The Passionate State of Mind: And Other Aphorisms
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. The Passionate State of Mind is a collection of timeless aphorisms taken from his brilliant writings. (Restored to print by noted author Christopher Klim.)
120 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1955
16 people are currently reading
913 people want to read
About the author
Eric Hoffer
42 books588 followersEric Hoffer was an American social writer and philosopher. He produced ten books and was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom in February 1983 by President of the United States Ronald Reagan. His first book, The True Believer, published in 1951, was widely recognized as a classic, receiving critical acclaim from both scholars and laymen, although Hoffer believed that his book The Ordeal of Change was his finest work. In 2001, the Eric Hoffer Award was established in his honor with permission granted by the Eric Hoffer Estate in 2005.
Early life
Hoffer was born in the Bronx, New York City in 1902 (or possibly 1898), the son of Knut and Elsa Hoffer, immigrants from Alsace. By the age of five, he could read in both German and English. When he was age five, his mother fell down a flight of stairs with Eric in her arms. Hoffer went blind for unknown medical reasons two years later, but later in life he said he thought it might have been due to trauma. ("I lost my sight at the age of seven. Two years before, my mother and I fell down a flight of stairs. She did not recover and died in that second year after the fall.I lost my sight and for a time my memory"). After his mother's death he was raised by a live-in relative or servant, a German woman named Martha. His eyesight inexplicably returned when he was 15. Fearing he would again go blind, he seized upon the opportunity to read as much as he could for as long as he could. His eyesight remained, and Hoffer never abandoned his habit of voracious reading.
Hoffer was a young man when his father, a cabinetmaker, died. The cabinetmaker's union paid for the funeral and gave Hoffer a little over three hundred dollars. Sensing that warm Los Angeles was the best place for a poor man, Hoffer took a bus there in 1920. He spent the next 10 years on Los Angeles' skid row, reading, occasionally writing, and working odd jobs. On one such job, selling oranges door-to-door, he discovered he was a natural salesman and could easily make good money. Uncomfortable with this discovery, he quit after one day.
In 1931, he attempted suicide by drinking a solution of oxalic acid, but the attempt failed as he could not bring himself to swallow the poison. The experience gave him a new determination to live adventurously. It was then he left skid row and became a migrant worker. Following the harvests along the length of California, he collected library cards for each town near the fields where he worked and, living by preference, "between the books and the brothels." A seminal event for Hoffer occurred in the mountains where he had gone in search of gold. Snowed in for the winter, he read the Essays by Michel de Montaigne. Montaigne's book impressed Hoffer deeply, and he often made reference to its importance for him. He also developed a great respect for America's underclass, which, he declared, was "lumpy with talent."
Longshoreman
Hoffer was in San Francisco by 1941. He attempted to enlist in the Armed forces there in 1942 but was rejected because of a hernia. Wanting to contribute to the war effort, he found ample opportunity as a longshoreman on the docks of The Embarcadero. It was there he felt at home and finally settled down. He continued reading voraciously and soon began to write while earning a living loading and unloading ships. He continued this work until he retired at age 65.
Hoffer considered his best work to be The True Believer, a landmark explanation of fanaticism and mass movements. The Ordeal of Change is also a literary favorite. In 1970 he endowed the Lili Fabilli and Eric Hoffer Laconic Essay Prize for students, faculty, and staff at the University of California, Berkeley.
Hoffer was a charismatic individual and persuasive public speaker, but said that he didn’t really care about people. Despite authoring 10 books and a newspaper column, in retirement Hoffer continued his robust life of the mind, thinking and writing alone, in an apartment.
Early life
Hoffer was born in the Bronx, New York City in 1902 (or possibly 1898), the son of Knut and Elsa Hoffer, immigrants from Alsace. By the age of five, he could read in both German and English. When he was age five, his mother fell down a flight of stairs with Eric in her arms. Hoffer went blind for unknown medical reasons two years later, but later in life he said he thought it might have been due to trauma. ("I lost my sight at the age of seven. Two years before, my mother and I fell down a flight of stairs. She did not recover and died in that second year after the fall.I lost my sight and for a time my memory"). After his mother's death he was raised by a live-in relative or servant, a German woman named Martha. His eyesight inexplicably returned when he was 15. Fearing he would again go blind, he seized upon the opportunity to read as much as he could for as long as he could. His eyesight remained, and Hoffer never abandoned his habit of voracious reading.
Hoffer was a young man when his father, a cabinetmaker, died. The cabinetmaker's union paid for the funeral and gave Hoffer a little over three hundred dollars. Sensing that warm Los Angeles was the best place for a poor man, Hoffer took a bus there in 1920. He spent the next 10 years on Los Angeles' skid row, reading, occasionally writing, and working odd jobs. On one such job, selling oranges door-to-door, he discovered he was a natural salesman and could easily make good money. Uncomfortable with this discovery, he quit after one day.
In 1931, he attempted suicide by drinking a solution of oxalic acid, but the attempt failed as he could not bring himself to swallow the poison. The experience gave him a new determination to live adventurously. It was then he left skid row and became a migrant worker. Following the harvests along the length of California, he collected library cards for each town near the fields where he worked and, living by preference, "between the books and the brothels." A seminal event for Hoffer occurred in the mountains where he had gone in search of gold. Snowed in for the winter, he read the Essays by Michel de Montaigne. Montaigne's book impressed Hoffer deeply, and he often made reference to its importance for him. He also developed a great respect for America's underclass, which, he declared, was "lumpy with talent."
Longshoreman
Hoffer was in San Francisco by 1941. He attempted to enlist in the Armed forces there in 1942 but was rejected because of a hernia. Wanting to contribute to the war effort, he found ample opportunity as a longshoreman on the docks of The Embarcadero. It was there he felt at home and finally settled down. He continued reading voraciously and soon began to write while earning a living loading and unloading ships. He continued this work until he retired at age 65.
Hoffer considered his best work to be The True Believer, a landmark explanation of fanaticism and mass movements. The Ordeal of Change is also a literary favorite. In 1970 he endowed the Lili Fabilli and Eric Hoffer Laconic Essay Prize for students, faculty, and staff at the University of California, Berkeley.
Hoffer was a charismatic individual and persuasive public speaker, but said that he didn’t really care about people. Despite authoring 10 books and a newspaper column, in retirement Hoffer continued his robust life of the mind, thinking and writing alone, in an apartment.
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 28 of 28 reviews
July 19, 2007
This is such dope shit. Read it after a bunch of this San Fran longshoreman intellectual's aphorisms mostly re mass social movements were in Harper's. Can't find my copy (might have given it to my mama?) or else I'd've typed some of it as an exercise in compression and clarity. Mostly aphorisms, epigrams, and brief paragraphs, like this (from "The True Believer"): "Faith in a holy cause is to a considerable extent a substitute for the lost faith in ourselves." That's just one I opened the book on . . . Really worthwhile bathroom reading.
November 24, 2014
"Rudeness is the weak man's imitation of strength" is one of many poignant quotes and aphorisms of author Eric Hoffer. I read his book True Believer back some years ago after stumbling upon a statute of him while working in Bartlesville, OK. His work is relevant and insightful and certainly gives one a broader perspective in what makes people behave in ways that give us pause and brings remarkable clarity into the unrest in our world.
December 25, 2014
Nobody knows about this book. But you do. Sobering and illuminating.
October 29, 2018
Hoffer lives in one room in a Chinese section of San Francisco. No telephone or television, no easy chair. It only has his own files, a few books, and a folding desk. Retired now as a longshoreman, he walks almost every day through Golden Gate Park about two and a half mile. He sees or hears some little things. An idea begins to be born, he may jot down a short note about it. A special set of muscles in his brain holds his idea that we find it may be for a week, a month, a year before he writes it out in a paragraph.
I believe this book is a timeless piece of masterwork written by the "Longshoreman Philosopher": Eric Hoffer. Before dwelling into the content and the notion of the book, what amazed me was how self-deprecating he was when he was called Intellectual. He insisted that he was simply a longshoreman who work hard and long hour, but continued to read and scribble his thoughts into his pocket notebook. He once wrote: "My writing is done in railroad yards while waiting for a freight, in the fields while waiting for a truck, and at noon after lunch. Towns are too distracting." He was deeply influenced by his modest roots and working-class surrounding.
Hoffer came to public attention with the 1951 publication of his first book, The True Believer: Thoughts on the Nature of Mass Movements (I've long wanted to read the book, and it seems the local bookstore does not sell Eric Hoffer's books. I manage to get another of his book from a friend who sells used book which published in 1953 and the book condition is yellowish and obsolete.) In the book, True Believer, Hoffer analyzes the phenomenon of "mass movements," a general term that he applies to revolutionary parties, nationalistic movements, and religious movements. Hoffer argues that fanatical and extremist cultural movements, whether religious, social, or national, arise when large numbers of frustrated people, believing their own individual lives to be worthless or spoiled, join a movement demanding radical change. But the real attraction for this population is an escape from the self, not a realization of individual hopes. True Believer was widely recognized as a classic, receiving critical acclaim from both scholars and laymen.
As for this book is a collected paragraph written in an aphoristic style which analyzes the human passionate mind and other aphorisms. He argues that passions usually have the roots of self-dissatisfaction which constantly struggle to face the inner being of oneself: "A mass movement attracts and holds a following not because it can satisfy the desire for self-advancement, but because it can satisfy the passion for self-renunciation." He argues that men are constantly trying to assert and prove by whatever means to readjust the individual for self-assertion. People will prove themselves by winning medal, citations, degrees, and rank. We acquire a sense of worth either by realizing our talents or keeping our busy or by identifying ourselves with something apart from us– be it a cause, leader, a group, possessions and the like. But paradoxically, Hoffer believed that rapid change is not necessarily a positive thing for a society and that passionless can also cause a regression in the society which peaceful is somehow a society is not hungry for growth: "For all we know, the wholly harmonious individual might be without the impulse to push on, and without the compulsion to strive for perfection in any department of life. There is always a chance that the perfect society might be a stagnant society."
"Know Thyself." This maxim, or aphorism has had a variety of meanings attributed to it in literature. But here, Hoffer argues that we are often the one who permanently confusing ourselves when in fact we are seized with a passion to be different from what we are: "Man's being is neither profound nor sublime. To search for something deep underneath the surface in order to explain human phenomena is to discard the nutritious outer layer for a nonexistent core. Like a bulb, man is all skin and no kernel."
This brilliant and original work of Eric Hoffer offers us a peculiar and fascinating perspective of view to an inquiry on the nature of oneself and the nature of the mass movements. Here are a few of my favorite aphorisms on social psychology and political science:
"The craving to change the world is perhaps the reflection of the craving to change ourselves. The untenability of a situation does not by itself always give rise to a desire to change. Our quarrel with the world is an echo of the endless quarrel proceeding within us. The revolutionary agitator must first start a war in every soul before he can recruit for his war with the world."
"Action can give us the feeling of being useful, but only words can give us a sense of weight and purpose."
"Man is eminently a storyteller. His search for a purpose, a cause, an ideal, a mission and the like is largely a search for a plot and pattern in the development of his life story–a story that is basically without the meaning of the pattern. The turning of our lives into a story is also a means of rousing the interest of others in us and associating them with us."
"Rudeness seems somehow linked with a rejection of the present. When we reject the present we also reject ourselves–we are, so to speak, rude toward ourselves; and we usually do unto others what we have already done to ourselves."
"It is a talent of the weak to persuade themselves that they suffer for something when they suffer from something; that they are showing the way when they are running away; that they see the light when they feel the heat; that they are chosen when they are shunned."
"A social order is stable so long as it can give scope to talent and youth. Youth itself is a talent–a perishable talent."
"The real 'haves' are they who can acquire freedom, self-confidence and even riches without depriving others of them. They acquire all of these by developing and applying their potentialities. On the other hand, the real 'have-nots' are they who cannot have aught except by depriving others of it. They can feel free only by diminishing the freedom of others, self-confident by spreading fear and dependence among others, and rich by making others poor."
"It has been often said that power corrupts. But it perhaps equally important to realize that weakness, too, corrupts. Power corrupts the few, while weakness corrupts the many. Hatred, malice, rudeness, intolerance, and suspicion are the fruits of weakness. The resentment of the weak does not spring from any injustice done to them but from the sense of their inadequacy and impotence. They hate not wickedness but weakness. When it is in their power to do so, the weak destroy weakness wherever they see it. Woe to the weak when they are preyed upon by the weak. The self-hatred of the weak is likewise an instance of their hatred of weakness."
September 6, 2018
Was Eric Hoffer a misanthrope? The self-educated longshoreman philosopher of San Francisco might be read that way, but if you watch his 1967 interview with Eric Sevareid you’ll see a man brimming over with joy. It’s possible, after all, to see people for what they lamentably often are and yet to wake each morning free of bitterness and face the world with fresh wonder.
That said, there are certainly some bitter truths in Hoffer’s The Passionate State of Mind. It reminded me very much, in fact, of Emil Cioran’s strangely refreshing but wildly misanthropic The Trouble With Being Born. A few passages from Hoffer that might easily have come from Cioran’s pen:
“Much of a man’s thinking is propaganda of his appetites.”
“When people are free to do as they please, they usually imitate each other.”
“Man’s being is neither profound nor sublime. To search for something deep underneath the surface in order to explain human phenomena is to discard the nutritious outer layer for a nonexistent core. Like a blub, man is all skin and no kernel.”
“The pleasure we derive from doing favors is partly in the feeling it gives us that we are not altogether worthless. It is a pleasant surprise to ourselves.”
“Humility is not renunciation of pride but the substitution of one pride for another.”
“We do not really feel grateful toward those who make our dreams come true; they ruin our dreams.”
“There is sublime thieving in all giving. Someone gives us all he has and we are his.”
I called Hoffer a philosopher, but he was not an academic. For that we can be grateful. He was a philosopher in the classical sense of the term. He wanted to understand what it is to be a human being, and to know what societies are (not what they might be, but what they inevitably are), and how to live in a worthy manner. If his assessment of things was often less than rosy, he suggested in an oblique way that honesty and sobriety of mind might show us at least what we ought to avoid in the pursuit of a worthy life.
A few longer passages to close:
“The attempt to justify an evil deed has perhaps more pernicious consequences than the evil deed itself. The justification of a past crime is the planting and cultivation of future crimes. Indeed, the repetition of a crime is sometimes part of a device of justification: we do it again and again to convince ourselves and others that it is a common thing and not an enormity.”
“It is doubtful whether we can reform human beings by eliminating their undesirable traits. In most cases elimination comes to nothing more than substitution: we substitute a close relative for the bad trait we have eliminated, and the dynasty continues. Envy takes the place of greed, self-righteousness that of selfishness, intellectual dishonesty that of plain dishonesty. And there is always a chance that the new bad trait will be more vigorous than the one it supplants.”
“To have a grievance is to have a purpose in life. A grievance can almost serve as a substitute for hope: and it not infrequently happens that those who hunger for hope give their allegiance to him who offers them a grievance.”
“The remarkable thing is that we really love our neighbor as ourselves: we do unto others as we do unto ourselves. We hate others when we hate ourselves. We are tolerant toward others when we are tolerant toward ourselves. We forgive others when we forgive ourselves. We are prone to sacrifice others when we are ready to sacrifice ourselves. It is not love of self but hatred of self which is at the root of the troubles that afflict our world.”
That said, there are certainly some bitter truths in Hoffer’s The Passionate State of Mind. It reminded me very much, in fact, of Emil Cioran’s strangely refreshing but wildly misanthropic The Trouble With Being Born. A few passages from Hoffer that might easily have come from Cioran’s pen:
“Much of a man’s thinking is propaganda of his appetites.”
“When people are free to do as they please, they usually imitate each other.”
“Man’s being is neither profound nor sublime. To search for something deep underneath the surface in order to explain human phenomena is to discard the nutritious outer layer for a nonexistent core. Like a blub, man is all skin and no kernel.”
“The pleasure we derive from doing favors is partly in the feeling it gives us that we are not altogether worthless. It is a pleasant surprise to ourselves.”
“Humility is not renunciation of pride but the substitution of one pride for another.”
“We do not really feel grateful toward those who make our dreams come true; they ruin our dreams.”
“There is sublime thieving in all giving. Someone gives us all he has and we are his.”
I called Hoffer a philosopher, but he was not an academic. For that we can be grateful. He was a philosopher in the classical sense of the term. He wanted to understand what it is to be a human being, and to know what societies are (not what they might be, but what they inevitably are), and how to live in a worthy manner. If his assessment of things was often less than rosy, he suggested in an oblique way that honesty and sobriety of mind might show us at least what we ought to avoid in the pursuit of a worthy life.
A few longer passages to close:
“The attempt to justify an evil deed has perhaps more pernicious consequences than the evil deed itself. The justification of a past crime is the planting and cultivation of future crimes. Indeed, the repetition of a crime is sometimes part of a device of justification: we do it again and again to convince ourselves and others that it is a common thing and not an enormity.”
“It is doubtful whether we can reform human beings by eliminating their undesirable traits. In most cases elimination comes to nothing more than substitution: we substitute a close relative for the bad trait we have eliminated, and the dynasty continues. Envy takes the place of greed, self-righteousness that of selfishness, intellectual dishonesty that of plain dishonesty. And there is always a chance that the new bad trait will be more vigorous than the one it supplants.”
“To have a grievance is to have a purpose in life. A grievance can almost serve as a substitute for hope: and it not infrequently happens that those who hunger for hope give their allegiance to him who offers them a grievance.”
“The remarkable thing is that we really love our neighbor as ourselves: we do unto others as we do unto ourselves. We hate others when we hate ourselves. We are tolerant toward others when we are tolerant toward ourselves. We forgive others when we forgive ourselves. We are prone to sacrifice others when we are ready to sacrifice ourselves. It is not love of self but hatred of self which is at the root of the troubles that afflict our world.”
December 6, 2018
I read this in college the first time and would have given it five stars back then. Now I no longer feel that way. I finished with four stars just to be kind to my memory of those days.
The most interesting part of my copy was the notes my friend made to me about my comments and underlining after I lent it to him way back in my college days. Here are some samples:
"Why the hell are you underlining every damn line? You're driving me crazy!"
"What the hell is wrong with the rest of this page?"--He wrote that about a mostly blank page.
"Suck!"--He wrote that about a quote he apparently did not like.
"I regret my ignorance but would you kindly take this further?"--Spoken to the author about a confusing quote.
"No sense! He is caught up with words! He should take this further. Nothing more irritating than to read someone who is being difficult just for the sake of being difficult."
"What the hell are you talking about?"--Spoken to me about a written comment I made. Frankly, I have no idea what the hell I was talking about.
"No, in both cases! They are the same!"
"Not good enough! Take it further. Be more specific."
"How about a few commas!"
"Makes no sense at all! Ridiculous assumption!"
"Hence? What the hell do you mean hence? Who says your first statement is true?"
The most interesting part of my copy was the notes my friend made to me about my comments and underlining after I lent it to him way back in my college days. Here are some samples:
"Why the hell are you underlining every damn line? You're driving me crazy!"
"What the hell is wrong with the rest of this page?"--He wrote that about a mostly blank page.
"Suck!"--He wrote that about a quote he apparently did not like.
"I regret my ignorance but would you kindly take this further?"--Spoken to the author about a confusing quote.
"No sense! He is caught up with words! He should take this further. Nothing more irritating than to read someone who is being difficult just for the sake of being difficult."
"What the hell are you talking about?"--Spoken to me about a written comment I made. Frankly, I have no idea what the hell I was talking about.
"No, in both cases! They are the same!"
"Not good enough! Take it further. Be more specific."
"How about a few commas!"
"Makes no sense at all! Ridiculous assumption!"
"Hence? What the hell do you mean hence? Who says your first statement is true?"
November 17, 2015
So happy to have stumbled upon this book while browsing the shelves. Amazing. Timeless. Everyone should read this. Can't wait to get my hands on the rest of his stuff.
September 25, 2016
It is difficult to follow up a book like "The True Believer" but there are a few gems in this short read on passion
August 4, 2017
Some excellent, some dismal.
January 24, 2018
Quite dark, but encouraged me to read some of Hoffer's books
October 17, 2018
A very short and sweet kinda book, great to read on the go such as in train. Very simple but it's effects could last a lifetime.
October 11, 2011
“The book consists of about 200 numbered maxims, similar to La Rochefoucauld in examining masked motives to our behavior. On the whole I agree with Hoffer's observations. Where I differ strongly is that he sees a sense of self-worthlessness (SOSW) as a key to understanding people. I think La Rochefoucauld had it better with amour-propre and Freud with his theory of the subconscious. I find Hoffer's use of SOSW as a unifying theme unconvincing and exaggerated, although in many of his observations it certainly does plausibly operate.
My memory from the 60's is that he was regarded as a hawk on Vietnam, a spokesperson for the union, hard-hat, blue collar supporters of LBJ, and therefore discounted by dovish university students like me. I think he's better than that stereotype, at least in what he writes in this book.
My memory from the 60's is that he was regarded as a hawk on Vietnam, a spokesperson for the union, hard-hat, blue collar supporters of LBJ, and therefore discounted by dovish university students like me. I think he's better than that stereotype, at least in what he writes in this book.
October 14, 2020
ربما يكون لمحاولة تبرير الفعل الشرير عواقب أكثر ضرراً من الفعل الشرير نفسه. إن تبرير جريمة سابقة يكون بالتخطيط لجرائم مستقبلية. في الواقع ، يكون تكرار الجريمة أحيانًا جزءًا من أداة التبرير : نقوم بذلك مرارًا وتكرارًا لإقناع أنفسنا والآخرين بأن هذا أمر شائع وليس بالأمر الجلل !!
Eric Hoffer
The passionate state of mind
Translated By:#Maher_Razouk
Eric Hoffer
The passionate state of mind
Translated By:#Maher_Razouk
April 30, 2010
Want to understand marketing? Really understand it? Understand what makes someone passionate, what drives them, what they fear and what they love. Its not a book specifically about marketing. It's more about politics, religion, mass movement, history and what drives people. "
December 7, 2007
Hoffer has amazing insight...he is an amazing self-taught person.
October 7, 2008
Hoffer is essential to anyone who ponders the soul and core of a revolutionary,
April 15, 2009
Excellent compilation of short and often profound thoughts from the longshoreman philosopher.
April 18, 2012
Hoffer's cynicism, present in so many of his aphorisms, made the memorable aphorisms even more pronounced...the harsh reality was not colored in petty meanderings.
July 8, 2016
A parade of arid aphorisms with a good deal of insight. Not nearly as good as "The True Believer," but still highly impressive. Well worth a read and much subsequent reflection.
January 27, 2019
I went to the end but I know I will come back at some points. Cogent insights into multiple aspects of the state of mind.
Read
March 31, 2021He succeeded in his goal of writing "a few good sentences."
Reviewed in the United States on June 21, 2020
Part of the problem with authors that are as pithy as Eric Hoffer is that when they say something the first time, they say it right and they say it with profundity.
There is very little that can be added to something that is so..... weighty
And so: This book feels 70% like a restatement of things that were already addressed in "The True Believer" (TTB) and 30% of an expansion.
Since I remember almost every word of TTB: one example is a quote from that book that "A nation without dregs and malcontents is orderly, peaceful and pleasant, but perhaps without the seed of things to come."
And it is restated (in Paragraph #15 of the current book) as "There is always a chance that the perfect society might be a stagnant society."
Another way in which this book differs from his masterpiece is that there are almost no historical examples.
That seems to be an artifact of the nature of the topic that is covered. In TTB, Huge Historical Events (of which there are not such a huge number) can be put into context and anybody who is decently well read could be expected to have some knowledge thereof.
But, the "passionate state of mind" of any would-be revolutionary is a million idiosyncratic cases.
It's not that I would not purchase this book if I had it to do all over again. But, if I want to re-read Hoffer then TTB would be the first place to go and "Truth Imagined" would be the second.
"Passionate State of Mind" would be third.
Hoffer says that his goal was to have it known that he had written a few good sentences.
Toward that end goal, the top 10 quotes of this book that (1) spoke to me most and (2) did not seem something like restatements of observations in TTB probably are:
1. "It seems that we are most busy when we do not do the one thing we ought to do; most greedy when we cannot have the one thing we really want; most hurried when we can never arrive; most self-righteous when irrevocably in the wrong. There is apparently a link between excess and unattainability.
2. "You do not win the weak by sharing your wealth with them; it will but infect them with greed and resentment. You can win the weak only by sharing your pride, hope or hatred with them."
3. "Religion is not a matter of God, Church, holy cause, etc. These are but accessories. The source of religious preoccupation is in the self, or rather the rejection of the self."
4. "We often hate that which we cannot be. We put up defenses against something we crave and cannot have."
5. "It is well to treasure the memories of past misfortunes; they constitute our bank of fortitude. "
6. "The search for happiness is one of the chief sources of unhappiness."
7. "There is radicalism in all getting and conservatism in all keeping. Love making is radical, while marriage is conservative. So, too, get-rich-quick capitalism is radical, while a capitalism intent solely on keeping what it has is conservative."
8. "The beginning of thought is in disagreement -- not only with others, but also with ourselves."
9. "We probably have a greater love for those we support than those who support us. Our vanity carries more weight than our self-interest."
10. "The wisdom of others remain still until it is writ over with our own blood. We are essentially apart from the world; it bursts into our consciousness only when it sinks its teeth and nails into us."
Reviewed in the United States on June 21, 2020
Part of the problem with authors that are as pithy as Eric Hoffer is that when they say something the first time, they say it right and they say it with profundity.
There is very little that can be added to something that is so..... weighty
And so: This book feels 70% like a restatement of things that were already addressed in "The True Believer" (TTB) and 30% of an expansion.
Since I remember almost every word of TTB: one example is a quote from that book that "A nation without dregs and malcontents is orderly, peaceful and pleasant, but perhaps without the seed of things to come."
And it is restated (in Paragraph #15 of the current book) as "There is always a chance that the perfect society might be a stagnant society."
Another way in which this book differs from his masterpiece is that there are almost no historical examples.
That seems to be an artifact of the nature of the topic that is covered. In TTB, Huge Historical Events (of which there are not such a huge number) can be put into context and anybody who is decently well read could be expected to have some knowledge thereof.
But, the "passionate state of mind" of any would-be revolutionary is a million idiosyncratic cases.
It's not that I would not purchase this book if I had it to do all over again. But, if I want to re-read Hoffer then TTB would be the first place to go and "Truth Imagined" would be the second.
"Passionate State of Mind" would be third.
Hoffer says that his goal was to have it known that he had written a few good sentences.
Toward that end goal, the top 10 quotes of this book that (1) spoke to me most and (2) did not seem something like restatements of observations in TTB probably are:
1. "It seems that we are most busy when we do not do the one thing we ought to do; most greedy when we cannot have the one thing we really want; most hurried when we can never arrive; most self-righteous when irrevocably in the wrong. There is apparently a link between excess and unattainability.
2. "You do not win the weak by sharing your wealth with them; it will but infect them with greed and resentment. You can win the weak only by sharing your pride, hope or hatred with them."
3. "Religion is not a matter of God, Church, holy cause, etc. These are but accessories. The source of religious preoccupation is in the self, or rather the rejection of the self."
4. "We often hate that which we cannot be. We put up defenses against something we crave and cannot have."
5. "It is well to treasure the memories of past misfortunes; they constitute our bank of fortitude. "
6. "The search for happiness is one of the chief sources of unhappiness."
7. "There is radicalism in all getting and conservatism in all keeping. Love making is radical, while marriage is conservative. So, too, get-rich-quick capitalism is radical, while a capitalism intent solely on keeping what it has is conservative."
8. "The beginning of thought is in disagreement -- not only with others, but also with ourselves."
9. "We probably have a greater love for those we support than those who support us. Our vanity carries more weight than our self-interest."
10. "The wisdom of others remain still until it is writ over with our own blood. We are essentially apart from the world; it bursts into our consciousness only when it sinks its teeth and nails into us."
August 26, 2024
There are 280 aphorisms offered in this 112-page volume. It’s not Hoffer’s best work. For the most part, they are just declarations, not conclusions drawn from a presentation and examination of evidence (or at least not any presented herein.) Some of them seemed unsubstantiated and improbable, coming off more as a rant than a thoughtful reflection. But here are five that are, if nothing else, intriguing.
1. “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.” [From what I can tell, people usually imitate each other, whether free or not.]
2. “Give people pride and they'll live on bread and water, bless their exploiters, and even die for them. Self-surrender is a transaction of barter: we surrender our sense of human dignity, our judgment, our moral and aesthetic sense for pride.” [Evidence: MAGA]
3. “It has been often said that power corrupts. But it is perhaps equally important to realize that weakness, too, corrupts.”
4. “It is compassion rather than the principle of justice which can guard us against being unjust to our fellow men.” [It follows, then, that to move people to be more just, we must first move them to compassion.]
5. “Rudeness is the weak man’s imitation of strength.” [Of course, the followers of that rude, weak man will see it as a virtue of directness, forthrightness, and “telling it like it is.” Perhaps what it really shows is just a lack of class.]
1. “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.” [From what I can tell, people usually imitate each other, whether free or not.]
2. “Give people pride and they'll live on bread and water, bless their exploiters, and even die for them. Self-surrender is a transaction of barter: we surrender our sense of human dignity, our judgment, our moral and aesthetic sense for pride.” [Evidence: MAGA]
3. “It has been often said that power corrupts. But it is perhaps equally important to realize that weakness, too, corrupts.”
4. “It is compassion rather than the principle of justice which can guard us against being unjust to our fellow men.” [It follows, then, that to move people to be more just, we must first move them to compassion.]
5. “Rudeness is the weak man’s imitation of strength.” [Of course, the followers of that rude, weak man will see it as a virtue of directness, forthrightness, and “telling it like it is.” Perhaps what it really shows is just a lack of class.]
February 18, 2025
The times of drastic change are times of passion. We can never be fit and ready for which is wholly new. We have to adjust ourselves, and every radical adjustment is a crisis in self-esteem: we undergo a test; we have to prove ourselves. A population subjected to drastic change is thus a population of misfits, and misfits live and breathe in an atmosphere of passion.
Man is eminently a storyteller. His search for a purpose, a cause, an ideal, a mission and the like is largely a search for a plot and a pattern in the development of his life story - a story that is basically without meaning or pattern. The turning of our lives into a story is also a means of rousing the interest of other in us and associating them with us.
History is made by men who have the restlessness, impressionability, credulity, capacity for make-believe, ruthlessness and self-righteousness of children. It is made by men who set their hearts on toys. All leaders strive to turn their followers into children.
Man is eminently a storyteller. His search for a purpose, a cause, an ideal, a mission and the like is largely a search for a plot and a pattern in the development of his life story - a story that is basically without meaning or pattern. The turning of our lives into a story is also a means of rousing the interest of other in us and associating them with us.
History is made by men who have the restlessness, impressionability, credulity, capacity for make-believe, ruthlessness and self-righteousness of children. It is made by men who set their hearts on toys. All leaders strive to turn their followers into children.
January 25, 2020
Raw and pithy observations from a blue-collar student of life and of learning
November 1, 2025
Paragraphs and quotations of penetrating observations about human nature. As usual, Hoffer singles out self-dissatisfaction and self-alienation as the driving forces of passion, radicalism, religious zeal and dishonesty with oneself (“we lie loudest when we lie to ourselves”). Four stars to account for the (deliberate) exaggeration and cynicism.
April 6, 2025
This book is characterized by its concise and impactful statements. Each aphorism is a nugget of wisdom, often challenging conventional thinking and offering fresh perspectives on familiar themes. This format makes it a book that can be savored slowly, with each sentence prompting reflection. Hoffer's aphorisms are not always comforting or predictable. He often presents paradoxes and challenges readers to question their assumptions about themselves and the world around them.
One of the main themes, as the title implies, is how emotions, especially strong ones like passion, love, hate, fear, and vanity, influence both individual behavior and large-scale movements. Hoffer investigates the causes, expressions, and effects of these.
Hoffer's strength is his capacity to condense difficult concepts into straightforward but impactful assertions. He makes observations on a wide range of subjects, such as self-worth, leadership, creativity, social change, and the nature of belief, based on his extensive reading and firsthand experiences as a longshoreman.
Even though "The Passionate State of Mind" was written decades ago, its insights are still relevant today. His insights on the dynamics of social unrest, the pursuit of belonging, and fanaticism are still remarkably applicable today.
Despite being written decades ago, the insights in "The Passionate State of Mind" continue to resonate with contemporary issues. His observations on fanaticism, the search for belonging, and the dynamics of social unrest remain remarkably relevant.
One of the main themes, as the title implies, is how emotions, especially strong ones like passion, love, hate, fear, and vanity, influence both individual behavior and large-scale movements. Hoffer investigates the causes, expressions, and effects of these.
Hoffer's strength is his capacity to condense difficult concepts into straightforward but impactful assertions. He makes observations on a wide range of subjects, such as self-worth, leadership, creativity, social change, and the nature of belief, based on his extensive reading and firsthand experiences as a longshoreman.
Even though "The Passionate State of Mind" was written decades ago, its insights are still relevant today. His insights on the dynamics of social unrest, the pursuit of belonging, and fanaticism are still remarkably applicable today.
Despite being written decades ago, the insights in "The Passionate State of Mind" continue to resonate with contemporary issues. His observations on fanaticism, the search for belonging, and the dynamics of social unrest remain remarkably relevant.
April 9, 2022
Still relevant works today.
August 10, 2012
Lots of really though provoking short statements.
Displaying 1 - 28 of 28 reviews