"It is the around-the-corner brand of hope that prompts people to action, while the distant hope acts as an opiate."

Action

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Insight & Reflection

This reflection on action by Eric Hoffer resonates across generations. It highlights a fundamental truth about human nature: our continuous search for meaning in action is what ultimately defines our character and our path forward.

About Eric Hoffer

Eric Hoffer was an American philosopher and social critic. A moderate with an atypical working-class background, Hoffer wrote ten books over his career and was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom in February 1983. His first book, The True Believer (1951), was widely recognized as a classic, receiving critical acclaim from both scholars and laymen, although Hoffer believed that The Ordeal of Change (1963) was his finest work. The Eric Hoffer Book Award is an international literary prize established in his honor. The University of California, Berkeley awards an annual literary prize named jointly for Hoffer.

More quotes by Eric Hoffer  ’
Editorial Note: This quote is curated and fact-checked by the Quotes Archive Editorial Team. Verified Literature Specialist.

More by Eric Hoffer

"The savior who wants to turn men into angels is as much a hater of human nature as the totalitarian despot who wants to turn them into puppets."

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"A low capacity for getting along with those near us often goes hand in hand with a high receptivity to the idea of the brotherhood of men."

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"The game of history is usually played by the best and the worst over the heads of the majority in the middle."

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More about Action

"What saves a man is to take a step. Then another step. It is always the same step, but you have to take it."

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"I do not deny that I planned sabotage. I did not plan it in a spirit of recklessness nor because I have any love of violence. I planned it as a result of a calm and sober assessment of the political situation that had arisen after many years of tyranny, exploitation and oppression of my people by the whites."

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"My humanitarian work evolved from being with my family. My mom, my dad, they really set a great example for giving back. My mom was a nurse, my dad was a school teacher. But my mom did a lot of things for geriatrics and elderly people. She would do home visits for free."

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"To have faith is to trust yourself to the water. When you swim you don't grab hold of the water, because if you do you will sink and drown. Instead you relax, and float."

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