Indeed. My lefty Government teacher didn't like him but he did put me on the debate team so there's that. I just ordered some nice vintage copies of Hoffer books from EBay.
HS was an amazing time in terms of reading. Huxley's "Doors of Perception" stuck with, also Sartre, Camus, Genet the Perv and Hesse. To provide a counter WFB's "Up From Liberalism".
"The sick in soul insist that it is humanity that is sick, and they are the surgeons to operate on it. They want to turn the world into a sickroom. And once they get humanity strapped to the operating table, they operate on it with an ax."
ERIC HOFFER The Passionate State of Mind 1955
(Hoffer may just be the best analyzer and dissector of mass movements and the psychology of those who join them.)
"The Passionate State of Mind" is aphoristic and really rich in concentrated wisdom, it was written to help us make sense of ideological upsurges and other fanaticisms, well worth buying...thanks for the excellent work!
I read both in High School and knew it was the Revealed Word even though I'm old enough to have been in HS - in California - when it was not cool to say so.
Now there's an education. The beauty of Hoffer is that the left think he's talking about the right, and the right think he's talking about the left. The irony!
Indeed. My lefty Government teacher didn't like him but he did put me on the debate team so there's that. I just ordered some nice vintage copies of Hoffer books from EBay.
HS was an amazing time in terms of reading. Huxley's "Doors of Perception" stuck with, also Sartre, Camus, Genet the Perv and Hesse. To provide a counter WFB's "Up From Liberalism".
"The sick in soul insist that it is humanity that is sick, and they are the surgeons to operate on it. They want to turn the world into a sickroom. And once they get humanity strapped to the operating table, they operate on it with an ax."
ERIC HOFFER The Passionate State of Mind 1955
(Hoffer may just be the best analyzer and dissector of mass movements and the psychology of those who join them.)
I have to read that... my copy of True Believers is littered with markings. Remarkable stuff.
"The Passionate State of Mind" is aphoristic and really rich in concentrated wisdom, it was written to help us make sense of ideological upsurges and other fanaticisms, well worth buying...thanks for the excellent work!
What makes it extra special is he was a guy who worked the docks... says it all.
As always, thanks for reading.
I read both in High School and knew it was the Revealed Word even though I'm old enough to have been in HS - in California - when it was not cool to say so.
Now there's an education. The beauty of Hoffer is that the left think he's talking about the right, and the right think he's talking about the left. The irony!
There's a lot of talk here about women, without defining what one is. :)
Eighteen months after Salem, the burghers forgot all about such madness. I suspect that'll happen soon...
Excellent.
I am looking for a copy of The True Believer for my next read.
And I may quote you with one of the most painfully hilarious lines ever, "Social media, reality TV’s Ritalin-addled problem child,". Brilliant.
It's a short book but so thick with wisdom it takes weeks to read. Let me know how you get on.
Thank you!