Eric Hoffer Quotes About Pride
-
Humility is not renunciation of pride but the substitution of one pride for another.
→ -
In man's life, the absence of an essential component usually leads to the adoption of a substitute. The substitute is usually embraced with vehemence and extremism, for we have to convince ourselves that what we took as second choice is the best there ever was. Thus blind faith is to a considerable extent a substitute for the lost faith in ourselves; insatiable desire a substitute for hope; accumulation a substitute for growth; fervent hustling a substitute for purposeful action; and pride a substitute for an unattainable self-respect.
→ -
Every era has a currency that buys souls. In some the currency is pride, in others it is hope, in still others it is a holy cause. There are of course times when hard cash will buy souls, and the remarkable thing is that such times are marked by civility, tolerance, and the smooth working of everyday life.
→ -
The impression somehow prevails that the true believer, particularly the religious individual, is a humble person. The truth is that the surrendering and humbling of the self breeds pride and arrogance.
→ -
Nationalist pride, like other variants of pride, can be a substitute for self-respect.
→ -
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 judgement, or moral and aesthetic sense for pride. If there is pride in being free, we are ready to die for liberty. If there is pride to be derived from an identification with a leader, we grovel in the dust before a Napoléon, Hitler or Stalin and are ready to die for him. If there is a distinction in suffering we search for martyrdom as for hidden treasure.
→ -
It is doubtful whether the oppressed ever fight for freedom. They fight for pride and power-power to oppress others.
→ -
The act of self-denial seems to confer on us the right to be harsh and merciless toward others. The impression somehow prevails that the true believer, particularly the religious individual, is a humble person. The truth is that the surrendering and humbling of the self breed pride and arrogance. The true believer is apt to see himself as one of the chosen, the salt of the earth, a prince disguised in meekness, who is destined to inherit this earth and the kingdom of heaven, too. He who is not of his faith is evil; he who will not listen shall perish.
→
Related Authors
-
Karen Horney Psychoanalyst -
Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi Professor -
Edmund Burke Statesman -
Eric Sevareid Journalist -
Anna Freud Psychologist -
Immanuel Kant Philosopher -
Francois de La Rochefoucauld Author -
Nassim Nicholas Taleb Author -
Michel de Montaigne Writer -
Eric Berne Author -
-
Erich Fromm Psychologist -
Sidney Poitier Actor -
David D. Burns Author -
Thomas Sowell Economist -
Matt Labash Journalist -
William James Philosopher -
Stanislav Grof Psychiatrist -
John Derbyshire Writer -
M. Stanton Evans Journalist