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Quotes from Eric Hoffer and the Art of the Notebook — Eric Hoffer

1902–1983 United States

← All quotes by Eric Hoffer

44 quotes

There is hardly a single instance of cultural vigor marked by moderation in expression.

Eric Hoffer and the Art of the Notebook (2005)

I am more and more convinced that taking life over-seriously is a frivolous thing.

Eric Hoffer and the Art of the Notebook (2005)

Good writing, like gold, combines lustrous lucidity with high density. What this means is good writing is packed with hints.

Eric Hoffer and the Art of the Notebook (2005)

The most important point is — and remains — not to take oneself seriously.

Eric Hoffer and the Art of the Notebook (2005)

A good sentence is a key. It unlocks the mind of the reader.

Eric Hoffer and the Art of the Notebook (2005)

Originality is not something continuous but something intermittent — a flash of the briefest duration. One must have the time and be watchful (be attuned) to catch the flash and fix it.

Eric Hoffer and the Art of the Notebook (2005)

In products of the human mind, simplicity marks the end of a process of refining, while complexity marks a primitive stage.

Eric Hoffer and the Art of the Notebook (2005)

The mind must be able to be "elsewhere." This needs time.

Eric Hoffer and the Art of the Notebook (2005)

To think out a problem is not unlike drawing a caricature. You have to exaggerate the salient point and leave out that which is not typical.

Eric Hoffer and the Art of the Notebook (2005)

I like half-truths of a certain kind — they are interesting and they stimulate.

Eric Hoffer and the Art of the Notebook (2005)

The desire for praise is more imperative than the desire for food and shelter.

Eric Hoffer and the Art of the Notebook (2005)

This food-and-shelter theory concerning man's efforts is without insight.

Eric Hoffer and the Art of the Notebook (2005)

Some people have no original ideas because they do not think well enough of themselves to consider their ideas worth noticing and developing.

Eric Hoffer and the Art of the Notebook (2005)

To think for oneself is not only, as Gide said, counterrevolutionary but also apostasy and, at certain times, treason.

Eric Hoffer and the Art of the Notebook (2005)

Men of talent have to be goaded to engage in creative work. The groans and laments of even the most gifted and prolific echo through the ages.

Eric Hoffer and the Art of the Notebook (2005)

Our doubts about ourselves cannot be banished except by working at that which is the one and only thing we know we ought to do.

Eric Hoffer and the Art of the Notebook (2005)

In all my life I never competed for fortune, for a woman, or for fame. I learned to write in total isolation.

Eric Hoffer and the Art of the Notebook (2005)

How rare it is to come across a piece of writing that is unambiguous, unqualified, and also unblurred by understatements or subtleties, and yet at the same time urbane and tolerant.

Eric Hoffer and the Art of the Notebook (2005)

It is not good for our efforts at self-realization to know the opinions other people have of us. It is difficult or perhaps impossible to be ourselves if we are known.

Eric Hoffer and the Art of the Notebook (2005)

A multitude of words is probably the most formidable means of blurring and obscuring thought. There is no thought, however momentous, that cannot be expressed lucidly in 200 words.

Eric Hoffer and the Art of the Notebook (2005)

Attribution

Quotes and notes from Wikiquote: Eric Hoffer (page history), available under CC BY-SA 4.0.