“The embarrassment wherein he finds himself produces in him the most unjust and criminal passions imaginable, for he conceives a mortal hatred against that truth which blames him and convinces him of his faults. Nothing so bolsters our self-confidence and reconciles us with ourselves as the continuous ability to create to see things grow and develop under our hand, day in, day out.”įamously, Hoffer points out: Hitler was a failed artist.Īs you can tell from the list of quotes below, this was a thought-provoking book, worthy of consideration in a time that seems particularly prone to mass movements. This is true of the poor artisan skilled in his trade and of the poor writer, artist and scientist in the full possession of creative powers. “Poverty, when coupled with creativeness, is usually free of frustration.
The leaders of mass movements tend to be those who are unable to create: Even when the Westernized native attains personal success-becomes rich, or masters a respected profession-he is not happy.
“All the advantages brought by the West are ineffectual substitutes for the sheltering and soothing anonymity of a communal existence. Freedom of choice places the whole blame of failure on the shoulders of the individual.” “Freedom aggravates at least as much as it alleviates frustration. To some extent mass movements are an outgrowth of “success.” Mass movement primarily seem to happen in wealthier countries where people have higher incomes and more leisure. “The game of history is usually played by the best and the worst over the heads of the majority in the middle.” In pre-Hitlerian Germany it was often a toss up whether a restless youth would join the Communists or the Nazis.Īs a result, leaders step in to seize this frustrations and control the group. “When people are ripe for a mass movement, they are usually ripe for any effective movement, and not solely for one with a particular doctrine or program. The movement they are joining doesn’t matter so much, it is just that they need some crowd to dissolve into to relieve their frustration or boredom
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