Reflections on the Human Condition
Lynch, Frederick R.
R iew Reflections on the Human Condition by Eric Hoffer Harper & Row $4.95 Every so often men of considerable intellectual breadth pause to think upon the condition of mankind. The...
...Therefore, it is not too surprising that the five section-titles of the book cannot completely characterize the full panoply of subjects touched upon...
...142: There are no chaste minds...
...77: They who lack talent expect things to happen without effort...
...the brevity of many Hofferisms belies the nuances of meaning which may be contained in these nuggets of thought...
...46: It is cheering to see that the rats are still around--the ship is not sinking...
...The teachings of Confucius, the essays of Francis Bacon, the discourses of Rousseau, and (to a more limited extent, perhaps) the thoughts of Chairman Mao are just some of the diverse examples of this type of writing which come to mind...
...Re-enthrones the economics, morals and politics of something-for-something...
...17: Belief passes, but to have believed never passes...
...183: It is the individual only who is timeless...
...Personal growth in the sense of "depth" or"maturity" is the subject of Hofferisms placed in the "Creativity" section which also serves as a vehicle for attacks on intellectual elitism...
...It should be kept in rnind that half the fun of such books comes from rereading portiorL~ of the work over a period of several days...
...Now Eric Hoffer has presented us with another such work, Reflections on the Human Condition, a slim volume containing one hundred and eighty-three aphorisms and philosophical comments on the topics of "Between the Dragon and the Devil," "Troublemakers," "Creators," "Prognosticators," and "The Individual...
...Probably the best way to impart the flaw~r of this N~ok is to quote directly some of my own favorite Hofferisms: No...
...Freshly debunks something-for-nothing promised through government, unions, business or magic...
...Societies, cultures, and civil i z a t i o n s - p a s t and present--are often incomprehensible to outsiders, but the individual's hungers, anxieties, dreams, and preoccupatiorL~ have remained tinchanged through the millenia...
...Box 9622, San Diego, Calif...
...This is what Hoffer probably desired all along: that his own reflections and musings should serve to stimulate others to ponder and debate the human condition Frederick R. Lynch NEWEST CHALLENGE TO CURRENT CONSENSUS L i v e l y new guide f o r corrective thought leaders Assigns rewarding new course to be pursued personally and through othels...
...Thus, we are up against the paradox that the individual wh,~ is more complex, unpredictable, and mysterious than any communal entity is the one nearest to our understanding...
...Individuals plucked from various historical and cultural settings may have some similar crude biological drives, but they will satisfy those drives in a manner acceptable to their respective societies and within the limits of the technologies available to them...
...Chapter on political sophistication worth the whole book...
...Incomprehensible societies do not produce comprehensible individuals...
...Thus talent is a species of vigor...
...Minds copulate wherever they meet...
...132: Sometimes it seems that people hear best what we do not say...
...P.O...
...The diversity of these Hofferisms undoubtedIy reflects Hoffer's own astonishingly wide range of life experiences (from pea-picking to life as a longshoreman and lecturer...
...However, one shouldn't be too quick to accept or reject a Hofferism on the basis of a single reading...
...so near that even the interval of millenia cannot weaken our feeling of kinship...
...Send check or money order direct to the publisher L()EFFLER &: CO., INC...
...92109 The Alternative October 1973 27...
...If in some manner the voice of an individual reaches tLa from the remotest distance of time, it is a timeless voice speaking about ourselves...
...Discloses little known extent of union power and its abuses...
...Offers new view of profit...
...I am somewhat surprised by Hoffer's final comment in the book in which he states that the individual, rather than society, is timeless and more complex: No...
...For example, some of the Hofferisms included in the section entitled "Between the Dragon and the Devil" seem more concerned with the phenomena of mass movements than with nature or good and evil per se...
...Such Hofferisms make one wish for the presence of Hoffer himself, so that one might debate these concise aphorisms with that effusive, boisterous man of the "passionate state of mind" whom we have seen on television interview programs...
...176: Our triviality is proportionate to the seriousness with which we take ourselves...
...Hereafter, I shall refer to these one hundred and eighty-three observations as "Hofferisms...
...At the core of every true talent there is an awareness of the difficulties inherent in any achievement, and the confidence that by persistence and patience something worthwhile will be realized...
...But of course...
...Sheds new light on cause and only possible cure of inflation and unemployment...
...That way, one begins to find new truths and new suggestions of truth...
...Charts only path to better living...
...Shows what you can do to correct the situation...
...Readers of the book, I suppose, will be quick to pounce upon his or her favorite (and least favorite) Hofferisms...
...158: How easy it is for a failure to seem foolish...
...Puts blame where it surprisingly belongs...
...Recalling Hoffer's excellent past work on the dynamics of mass movements ( The True Believer, 1951), I would have thought that what Hoffer would find fascinating and enduring in the human condition is the relationship between the individual and society and the many forms that relationship may take...
...They ascribe failure to a lack of inspiration or ability, or to misfortune, rather than to insufficient application...
...107: How much easier is self sacrifice than self-realization...
...Such an observation ignores the basic processes of socialization (i.e., childrearing, education, religious training) whereby society, to a considerable extent, molds the hungers, desires, and motives of individuals...
...Those who could not thrive when left to themselves never felt at ease in America...
...53: The history of this country was made largely by people who wanted to be left alone...
...This is true not only of the pampered rich, hut of' the intellectuals, the chronically poor, and to some extent of the Negro...
Vol. 7 • October 1973 • No. 1
