"There is no loneliness greater than the loneliness of a failure. The failure is a stranger in his own house."

Failure

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Insight & Reflection

This reflection on failure by Eric Hoffer resonates across generations. It highlights a fundamental truth about human nature: our continuous search for meaning in failure 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.

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

More by Eric Hoffer

"Those in possession of absolute power can not only prophesy and make their prophecies come true, but they can also lie and make their lies come true."

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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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More about Failure

"Mitt Romney understands free enterprise, he has worked in it. He has seen companies succeed and he has seen them fail, too. He knows what people think about when they invest their money."

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"I honestly think it is better to be a failure at something you love than to be a success at something you hate."

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"In Torch Song, I did that character almost non-stop from 1978 until I made the movie in 1987. Then I had some failure, which also colors how you react to doing other things."

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"Leadership is not a title, it is the realization that every failure is just a stepping stone to greatness."

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