Friday, July 11, 2008

Vanity

"There is no doubt that in exchanging a self-centered for a selfless life we gain enormously in self-esteem. The vanity of the selfless, even those who practice humility, is boundless."—Eric Hoffer, The True Believer

I have been filling in a gap in my self-education by reading the book from which I took the above quotation. I highly recommend it; the style is clear and pithy, almost aphoristic at times, and it contains many provocative observations and much food for thought. The frequent parallels to Nietzsche's thought, such as the observation quoted, are remarkable.

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5 Comments:

Blogger fitzgerald said...

Nice quote, I've never thought about it like that. And I think humility is a great thing, but difficult to maintain in the modern corperate driven world that we live in.

9:27 AM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

hi from scotland!! hope all is well at your side of the pond..had a very busy year and not a lot of time for blogging...but i still check in andsee what is happening with you...hope you are having a great summer and lots of outdoor time..still love your blog..will write a longer mail soon all the best for now countrygrrl

6:21 PM  
Blogger Jim H. said...

I seem to recall Hoffer being interviewed on a late-night talk show years ago (Dick Cavett, perhaps?). He was an arrogant SOB!

2:30 PM  
Blogger Greg said...

He may well have been.... A lot of these Big Idea thinkers get pretty full of themselves. But I still liked the quote and the book. Thanks as always for visiting & commenting!

10:33 AM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

I saw that show with Cavett and Hoffer. Possibly late '60's? Does anyone remember? SW 4/30/13

12:41 PM  

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