Eric Hoffer (July 25, 1898 – May 21, 1983) was an American social writer. He produced ten books and was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom in February 1983 by President of the United States Ronald Reagan. His first book, The True Believer, published in 1951, was widely recognized as a classic, receiving critical acclaim from both scholars and laymen.^[1] This book, which he considered his best^{[citation needed]}, established his reputation^{[citation needed]}. He remained a successful^{[citation needed]} writer for most of his remaining years. Image File history File links Unbalanced_scales. ... Shortcut: WP:NPOVD Articles that have been linked to this page are the subject of an NPOV dispute (NPOV stands for Neutral Point Of View; see below). ... is the 206th day of the year (207th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 1898 (MDCCCXCVIII) was a common year starting on Saturday (link will display the full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar (or a common year starting on Monday of the 12-day-slower Julian calendar). ... is the 141st day of the year (142nd in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 1983 (MCMLXXXIII) was a common year starting on Saturday (link displays the 1983 Gregorian calendar). ... A writer is anyone who creates a written work, although the word more usually designates those who write creatively or professionally, or those who have written in many different forms. ... The Presidential Medal of Freedom The Presidential Medal of Freedom is one of the two highest civilian awards in the United States and is bestowed by the President of the United States (the other award which is considered its equivalent is the Congressional Gold Medal, which is bestowed by an... Federal courts Supreme Court Circuit Courts of Appeal District Courts Elections Presidential elections Midterm elections Political Parties Democratic Republican Third parties State & Local government Governors Legislatures (List) State Courts Local Government Other countries Atlas  US Government Portal      For other uses, see President of the United States (disambiguation). ... Reagan redirects here. ... The True Believer covers The True Believer: Thoughts On The Nature Of Mass Movements ISBN 0060505915 was Eric Hoffers first and most successful book, published in 1951. ...

Life

Hoffer was born in New York City in 1902, the son of German immigrants. By the age of five, he could read in both German and English. When he was age seven, his mother fell down a flight of stairs with Eric in her arms. Hoffer went blind for unknown medical reasons but later in life he said he thought it might have been due to trauma. ("I lost my sight at the age of seven. Two years before, my mother and I fell down a flight of stairs. She did not recover and died in that second year after the fall. I lost my sight and for a time my memory") [Truth Imagined pg 1]. His eyesight inexplicably returned when he was fifteen. Fearing he would again go blind, he seized upon the opportunity to read as much as he could for as long as he could. His eyesight remained, but Hoffer never abandoned his habit of voracious reading. New York, New York and NYC redirect here. ... The English language is a West Germanic language that originates in England. ...

His mother had already died shortly after the fall down the flight of stairs (Eric carried a scar on his forehead from the fall), however, his father also died while he was still a young man - within a year after he regained his sight. The cabinetmaker's union buried his dad and gave him a little over three hundred dollars. He was homeless, uneducated and unskilled. Sensing that Los Angeles was the best place for a poor man, Hoffer took a bus there in 1920. He spent the next 10 years on Los Angeles' skid row, working odd jobs, reading, and occasionally writing. Flag Seal Nickname: City of Angels Location Location within Los Angeles County in the state of California Coordinates , Government State County California Los Angeles County Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa (D) Geographical characteristics Area     City 1,290. ...

In 1931 he attempted suicide by drinking a solution of oxalic acid, but the attempt failed as he could not bring himself to swallow the poison. The experience gave him a new determination to live adventurously. It was then he left skid row and became a migrant worker. Following the harvests up and down the coast of California, he had library cards for each town near the fields where he worked. A seminal event for Hoffer occurred in the mountains where he had gone in search of gold. Snowed in for the winter, he read Essais by Michel de Montaigne. Montaigne's book impressed Hoffer deeply, and he often made reference to its importance for him. Oxalic acid (IUPAC name: ethanedioic acid, formula C2H2O4) is a dicarboxylic acid with structure (HOOC)-(COOH). ... Frontpage of the Essays Essays is the title of a book written by Michel de Montaigne that was first published in 1580. ... Michel Eyquem de Montaigne-Delecroix (IPA pronunciation: []) (February 28, 1533–September 13, 1592) was one of the most influential writers of the French Renaissance. ...

Hoffer was in San Francisco by 1941. He attempted to enlist in the Armed forces there in 1942 but was rejected due to a hernia. Wanting to contribute to the war effort, he found ample opportunity as a longshoreman on the docks of The Embarcadero. It was there he felt at home and finally settled down. He continued reading voraciously and soon began to write while earning a living loading and unloading ships. He continued this work until he retired at age 65. This page is a candidate for speedy deletion. ... Embarcadero may refer to: A type of wharf found on the waterfront of a bay or other inland waterway. ...

Hoffer considered his best work to be "The True Believer." It was a landmark explanation of fanaticism and mass movements. "The Ordeal of Change" is also a literary favorite. In 1970 he endowed the Lili Fabilli and Eric Hoffer Laconic Essay Prize for students, faculty, and staff at the University of California, Berkeley.

Despite authoring ten books and a newspaper column, in retirement Hoffer continued to live a simple life, thinking and writing near San Francisco’s waterfront.

Hoffer's working class roots and "intellectuals"

Hoffer drew confidence and inspiration from his modest roots and working-class surroundings, seeing in it vast human potential. In a letter to Margaret Anderson in 1941, he wrote: Statue of a coal miner in Charleston, WV, USA. Working class is a term used in academic sociology and in ordinary conversation. ...

My writing is done in railroad yards while waiting for a freight,

in the fields while waiting for a truck, and at noon after lunch.

Towns are too distracting.

Hoffer also took solace in being an outcast, believing that the outcasts have always been the pioneers of society. He did not consider himself an "intellectual", and scorned the term as descriptive of the allegedly anti-American academics of the West. He believed academics craved power but were denied it in the democratic countries of the West (though not in totalitarian countries, which Hoffer understood to be an intellectual's dream). Instead, Hoffer believed academics chose to bite the hand that fed them in their quest for power and influence. Anti-American sentiment is a hostility towards or disapproval of the government, culture, history, and/or people of the United States of America. ... Plato is credited with the inception of academia: the body of knowledge, its development and transmission across generations. ... Democracy is a form of government under which the power to alter the laws and structures of government lies, ultimately, with the citizenry. ... The concept of Totalitarianism is a typology or ideal-type used by some political scientists to encapsulate the characteristics of a number of twentieth century regimes that mobilized entire populations in support of the state or an ideology. ...

Though Hoffer did not identify with "liberal intellectuals" and often criticized the radical ideology of many activists of the New Left, it would be wrong to characterize Hoffer's thinking as "conservative". Rather, his structural approach to analyzing and understanding mass movements and their ideologies often led Hoffer to consistently nonideological positions. As he said, "my writing grows out of my life just as a branch from a tree." When called an intellectual, he insisted that he was a longshoreman. He has since become known as the "longshoreman philosopher." American liberalism—that is, liberalism in the United States of America—is a broad political and philosophical mindset, favoring individual liberty, and opposing restrictions on liberty, whether they come from established religion, from government regulation, from the existing class structure, or from multi-national corporations. ... An intellectual is a person who uses his or her intellect to study, reflect, and speculate on a variety of different ideas. ... The New Left is a term used in different countries to describe left-wing movements that occurred in the 1960s and 1970s. ...

On the nature and origins of mass movements

Hoffer was among the first to recognize the central importance of self-esteem to psychological well-being. While most recent writers focus on the benefits of a positive self-esteem, Hoffer focused on the consequences of a lack of self-esteem. Concerned about the rise of totalitarian governments, especially those of Adolf Hitler and Josef Stalin, he tried to find the roots of these "madhouses" in human psychology. He discovered that fanaticism and self-righteousness are rooted in self-hatred, self-doubt, and insecurity. As he describes in The True Believer, a passionate obsession with the outside world or with the private lives of other people is merely a craven attempt to compensate for a lack of meaning in one's own life. In psychology, self-esteem or self-worth is a persons self-image at an emotional level; circumventing reason and logic. ... Hitler redirects here. ... (Russian, in full: Ио́сиф Виссарио́нович Ста́лин [Iosif Vissarionovich Stalin]; December 18 [O.S. December 6] 1878[1] – March 5, 1953) was the leader of the Soviet Union from the mid-1920s to his death in 1953 and General Secretary of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union (1922-1953... Fanaticism is an emotion of being filled with excessive, uncritical zeal, particularly for an extreme religious or political cause, or with an obsessive enthusiasm for a pastime or hobby. ...

The mass movements discussed in The True Believer include religious mass movements as well as political, including extensive discussions of Islam and Christianity. They also include seemingly benign mass movements which are neither political nor religious. A core principle in the book is Hoffer's insight that mass movements are interchangeable; he notes fanatical Nazis later becoming fanatical Communists, fanatical Communists later becoming fanatical anti-Communists, and Saul, persecutor of Christians, becoming Paul, a fanatical Christian himself. For the true believer the substance of the mass movement isn't so important as that he or she is part of that movement. Hoffer furthermore suggests that it is possible to head off the rise of an undesirable mass movement by substituting a benign mass movement, which will give those prone to joining movements an outlet for their insecurities. For people named Islam, see Islam (name). ... Topics in Christianity Movements · Denominations · Other religions Ecumenism · Preaching · Prayer Music · Liturgy · Calendar Symbols · Art · Criticism Important figures Apostle Paul · Church Fathers Constantine · Athanasius · Augustine Anselm · Aquinas · Palamas · Luther Calvin · Wesley Arius · Marcion of Sinope Archbishop of Canterbury · Catholic Pope Coptic Pope · Ecumenical Patriarch Christianity Portal This box:      Christianity is... Paul of Tarsus (b. ...

Hoffer's work was original, staking out new ground largely ignored by dominant academic trends of his time. In particular, Hoffer's work was completely non-Freudian, at a time when almost all American psychology was confined to the Freudian paradigm. Many argue Hoffer's lack of a formal University education contributed to his independent thought, with his book remaining an insightful classic today. Hoffer appeared on Public Television in 1964 and then in two one-hour conversations on CBS with Eric Sevareid in the late 1960s. Both times he drew wide response for his patiently considered but unorthodox views. Sigmund Freud His famous couch Sigmund Freud (May 6, 1856 - September 23, 1939) was an Austrian neurologist and the founder of the psychoanalytic school of psychology, a movement that popularized the theory that unconscious motives control much behavior. ... This article is about the broadcast network. ... Pioneering broadcast journalist Eric Sevareid. ...

Other writings

Hoffer's insights into the consequences of a lack of self-esteem also informed his later writings. His 1963 book The Ordeal of Change discusses change and modernization in society. His 1971 book First Things, Last Things was a collection of essays published at a time in which young middle-class American youth were undergoing an increasing attraction to mass movements, whether political, religious, or subcultural, as well as a rapid increase in youth crime. In these and other books, Hoffer continued to build upon his earlier insights. In Hoffer's view, rapid change is not a positive thing for a society, and too rapid change can cause a regression in maturity for those who were brought up in a very different society than what that society has become. He noted that in the 1960s America had many young adults still living in extended adolescence. Seeking to explain the attraction of the New Left protest movements, he characterized them as the result of widespread affluence which, in his words, "is robbing a modern society of whatever it has left of puberty rites to routinize the attainment of manhood." He sees these puberty rites as essential for self-esteem, and notes that mass movements and juvenile mindsets tend to go together to the point that anyone, no matter what age, who joins a mass movement immediately begins to exhibit juvenile behavior. He further notes that the reason working class Americans did not by and large join in the 1960s protest movements and subcultures was they had entry into meaningful labor as an effective rite of passage out of adolescence, while both the very poor on welfare and the affluent are, in his words "prevented from having a share in the world's work and of proving their manhood by doing a man's work and getting a man's pay" and thus remained in a state of extended adolescence, lacking in necessary self-esteem, and prone to joining mass movements as a form of compensation. Hoffer suggested that this need for meaningful work as a rite of passage into adulthood could be fulfilled with a 2-year civilian national service program (not unlike the earlier programs during the Depression such as the Civilian Conservation Corps), in which all young adults would do two years of work in fields such as construction or natural resources work. He writes: "The routinization of the passage from boyhood to manhood would contribute to the solution of many of our pressing problems. I cannot think of any other undertaking that would dovetail so many of our present difficulties into opportunities for growth." CCC workers on road construction, Camp Euclid, Ohio 1936 The Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) was a work relief program for young men from unemployed families, established on March 19, 1933 by U.S. President Franklin D. Roosevelt. ... For other uses, see Construction (disambiguation). ...

Unpublished writings

Hoffer's papers, including 131 of the notebooks he carried in his pockets, were acquired in 2000 by the Hoover Institution Archives. Because Hoffer cultivated an aphoristic style, the unpublished notebooks (dated from 1949 to 1977) contain very significant work. Available for scholarly study since at least 2003, little of their contents has yet been published. A selection of fifty aphorisms, focusing on the development of unrealized human talents through the creative process, appeared in the July 2005 issue of Harper's Magazine.^[2] Hoover Tower at the Hoover Institution The Hoover Institution on War, Revolution, and Peace is a public policy think tank and library founded by Herbert Hoover at Stanford University, his alma mater. ... An aphorism (literally distinction or definition, from Greek αφοριζειν to define) expresses a general truth in a pithy sentence. ... Year 1949 (MCMXLIX) was a common year starting on Saturday (link will display the full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ... Also: 1977 (album) by Ash. ... Year 2003 (MMIII) was a common year starting on Wednesday of the Gregorian calendar. ... For other uses of Creativity, see Creativity (disambiguation). ... Harpers redirects here. ...

Bibliography

1951 The True Believer: Thoughts On The Nature Of Mass Movements ISBN 0-06-050591-5

1955 The Passionate State Of Mind, and Other Aphorisms ISBN 1-933435-09-7

1963 The Ordeal Of Change ISBN 1-933435-10-0

1967 The Temper Of Our Time

1969 Working And Thinking on The Waterfront; a journal, June 1958-May 1959

1971 First Things, Last Things

1973 Reflections on the Human Condition ISBN 1-933435-14-3

1976 In Our Time

1979 Before the Sabbath

1982 Between the devil and the dragon : the best essays and aphorisms of Eric Hoffer ISBN 0-06-014984-1

1983 Truth Imagined ISBN 1-933435-01-1

The True Believer covers The True Believer: Thoughts On The Nature Of Mass Movements ISBN 0060505915 was Eric Hoffers first and most successful book, published in 1951. ...

Books on Hoffer

• Eric Hoffer; an American Odyssey Tomkins, Calvin, New York, E.P. Dutton & Co., 1968 ISBN 0-8057-7359-2 Part of Twayne's United States authors series
• Hoffer's America, Koerner, James D., La Salle, Ill., Library Press, 1973 ISBN 0-912050-45-4
• Eric Hoffer, Baker, James Thomas. Boston : Twayne, 1982 ISBN 0-8057-7359-2 Twayne's United States authors series

Broadcasts

Documentary on Eric Hoffer with Eric Sevareid, CBS, November 14, 1967 is the 318th day of the year (319th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 1967 (MCMLXVII) was a common year starting on Sunday (link will display full calendar) of the 1967 Gregorian calendar. ...

Footnotes

is the 150th day of the year (151st in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Also see: 2002 (number). ... Tom Bethell (born 1936) is an journalist specializing in economic issues, known for his support of the market economy, political conservatism, and unorthodox science. ...

External links

Wikiquote has a collection of quotations related to:

Eric Hoffer

• The Eric Hoffer Award, home of the international literary and book prize
• The Eric Hoffer Resource, a fan site with links, quotations, and reviews
• Eric Hoffer Home Page, publisher for Eric Hoffer reprints
• makeoutcity.com: Categories > People > EricHoffer
• Thomas Sowell: The legacy of Eric Hoffer
• Fabilli and Hoffer Essay Prize
• The True Believer Revisited Tim Madigan in PhilosophyNow
• Eric Hoffer Quotes - Searchable quotes, with source citations
• Eric Hoffer Quotes
• Eric Hoffer in Russia
• Register of the Eric Hoffer Papers at the Hoover Institute; Stanford University, CA