Eric Hoffer was an American philosopher and author of ten books. He was born on this day, July 25 in the year 1898. He died in 1983.

Here are some of his words of wisdom to motivate us.

“The hardest arithmetic to master is that which enables us to count our blessings.”

“The search for happiness is one of the chief sources of unhappiness.”

“Our quarrel with the world is an echo of the endless quarrel proceeding within us.”

“Rudeness is the weak man’s imitation of strength.”

“Disappointment is a sort of bankruptcy – the bankruptcy of a soul that expends too much in hope and expectation.”

“People who bite the hand that feeds them usually lick the boot that kicks them.”

“We lie the loudest when we lie to ourselves.”

“Many of the insights of the saint stem from his experience as a sinner.”

“Our greatest pretenses are built up not to hide the evil and the ugly in us, but our emptiness. The hardest thing to hide is something that is not there.”

“People with a sense of fulfillment think it is a good world and would like to conserve it as it is, while the frustrated favor radical change.”

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