{"id":17037,"date":"2010-03-22T00:10:43","date_gmt":"2010-03-22T04:10:43","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.firstthings.com\/blogs\/theanchoress\/?p=17037"},"modified":"2017-03-10T18:36:32","modified_gmt":"2017-03-10T18:36:32","slug":"a-few-words-from-eric-hoffer","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/theanchoress\/2010\/03\/22\/a-few-words-from-eric-hoffer\/","title":{"rendered":"A Few Words from Eric Hoffer"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/head>

<\/p>\n

\u201cFreedom means freedom from forces and circumstances which would turn man into a thing, which would impose on man the passivity and predictability of matter. By this test, absolute power is the manifestation most inimical to human uniqueness. Absolute power wants to turn people into malleable clay.\u201d
\n***
\n\u201cScratch an intellectual and you find a would-be aristocrat who loathes the sight, the sound, and the smell of common folk.\u201d
\n***
\n\u201cUnless a man has talents to make something of himself, freedom is an irksome burden. Of what avail is freedom to choose if the self be ineffectual? We join a mass movement to escape individual responsibility, or, in the words of the ardent young Nazi, \u2018to be free from freedom.\u2019\u201d
\n***
\n\u201cTo the frustrated, freedom from responsibility is more attractive than freedom from restraint. They are eager to barter their independence for relief from the burdens of willing, deciding and being responsible for inevitable failure. They willingly abdicate the directing of their lives to those who want to plan, command and shoulder all responsibility.\u201d
\n***
\n\u201cAbsolute power corrupts even when exercised for humane purposes. The benevolent despot who sees himself as a shepherd of the people still demands from others the submissiveness of sheep.\u201d
\n***
\n\u201cTo the frustrated, freedom from responsibility is more attractive than freedom from restraint. They are eager to barter their independence for relief from the burdens of willing, deciding and being responsible for inevitable failure. They willingly abdicate the directing of their lives to those who want to plan, command and shoulder all responsibility.\u201d
\n***
\n\u201cThe basic test of freedom is perhaps less in what we are free to do than in what we are free not to do.\u201d
\n***
\n\u201cThe aspiration toward freedom is the most essentially human of all human manifestations.\u201d
\n***
\n\u201cIf you want a Big Brother, you\u2019ll get all that comes with it.\u201d<\/p>\n

Read Hoffer:<\/strong>
\nThe True Believer;Thoughts on the Nature of Mass Movements<\/em><\/a>
\nThe Ordeal of Change<\/em><\/a>
\nReflections on the Human Condition<\/em><\/a><\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

\u201cFreedom means freedom from forces and circumstances which would turn man into a thing, which would impose on man the passivity and predictability of matter. By this test, absolute power is the manifestation most inimical to human uniqueness. Absolute power wants to turn people into malleable clay.\u201d *** \u201cScratch an intellectual and you find a […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":112,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4,58,59,60,62,70,102,147],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-17037","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-remaking-america","category-crisis-opportunity","category-critical-thinking","category-crooks-and-liars","category-culture-of-lifedeath","category-dont-try-me-too-high","category-fascism-in-america","category-just-words"],"yoast_head":"\nA Few Words from Eric Hoffer<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"\u201cFreedom means freedom from forces and circumstances which would turn man into a thing, which would impose on man the passivity and predictability of\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, 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