The ratio between supervisory and producing personnel is always highest where the intellectuals are in power. In a Communist country it takes half the population to supervise the other half.
Eric HofferIt is not actual suffering but the taste of better things which excites people to revolt.
Eric HofferMen of thought seldom work well together, whereas between men of action there is usually an easy camaraderie.
Eric HofferMore significant than the fact that poets write abstrusely, painters paint abstractly, and composers compose unintelligible music is that people should admire what they cannot understand; indeed, admire that which has no meaning or principle.
Eric HofferIt is often the failure who is the pioneer in new lands, new undertakings, and new forms of expression.
Eric HofferPeople unfit for freedom - who cannot do much with it - are hungry for power. The desire for freedom is an attribute of a "have" type of self. It says: leave me alone and I shall grow, learn, and realize my capacities. The desire for power is basically an attribute of a "have not" type of self.
Eric Hoffer