ERIC HOFFER ~ MASS MOVEMENT LEADERSHIP – THE MAIN REQUIREMENTS SEEM TO BE ~ THE TRUE BELIEVER ~ 1951

~ EI-NC-O-SNINPD ~ Exceptional Intelligence – Noble Character – Originality – Seem Neither Indispensable Nor Perhaps Desirable

~ AAJID ~ Audacity And Joy In Defiance

~ AIW ~ An Iron Will

~ AFC-O-TOAOT ~ A Fanatical Conviction – Of – The One And Only Truth

~ FI-DAL ~ Faith In – Destiny And Luck

~ ACFPH ~ A Capacity For Passionate Hatred

~ CFTP ~ Contempt For The Present

~ ACEOHN ~ A Cunning Estimate Of Human Nature

~ ADIS(SAC) ~ A Delight In Symbols (Spectacles And Ceremonials)

~ UB-WFEI-ADOCAF ~ Unbounded Brazenness – Which Finds Expression In – A Disregard Of Consistency And Fairness

~ ARTTICOAFIFC-A-TTCNBTMOI ~ A Recognition That The Innermost Craving Of A Following Is For Communion – And – That There Can Never Be Too Much Of It

~ ACFWAHTULOAGOAL ~ A Capacity For Winning And Holding The Utmost Loyalty Of A Group Of Able Lieutenants

ERIC HOFFER ~ UNIFYING AGENTS ~ THE TRUE BELIEVER ~ 1951

HATRED

~ MMCRASWBIAG-B-NWBIAD-UTSOAMMIPTTVATOID-LAID-TIDI-OAO ~ Mass Movements Can Rise And Spread Without Belief In A God – But – Never Without Belief In A Devil – Usually The Strength Of A Mass Movement Is Proportionate To The Vividness And Tangibility Of Its Devil – Like An Ideal Deity – The Ideal Devil Is – Omnipotent And Omnipresent

~ TUOAIHMIITITITWH-TEMMSIAISC ~ The Undercurrent Of Admiration In Hatred Manifests Itself In The Inclination To Imitate Those We Hate – Thus Every Mass Movement Shapes Itself After Its Specific Devil

~ PH-CG-MAP-T-AEL ~ Passionate Hatred – Can Give – Meaning And Purpose – To – An Empty Life

~ AO-E-D-P-A-H-WTD-RH ~ All Our – Enthusiasm – Devotions – Passions – And – Hopes – When They Decompose – Release Hatred

~ WWLOIIITCOAMM-WFANF-FT-H-B-L-T-M-A-B-WSAR ~ When We Lose Our Individual Independence In The Corporateness Of A Mass Movement – We Find A New Freedom – Freedom To – Hate – Bully – Lie – Torture – Murder – And – Betray – Without Shame And Remorse

IMITATION

~ IIAEUA-TDOAC-KGIIWADOU-OICAMITIOAEAITFOAP ~ Imitation Is An Essential Unifying Agent – The Development Of A Close-Knit Group Is Inconceivable Without A Diffusion Of Uniformity – Obedience Itself Consists As Much In The Imitation Of An Example As In The Following Of A Precept

TSSWDFBO-TGIODTBLO ~ The Less Satisfaction We Derive From Being Ourselves – The Greater Is Our Desire To Be Like Others

~ CFTOW-IOC-TMEDADI ~ Contempt For The Outside World – Is Of Course – The Most Effective Defense Against Disruptive Imitation

PERSUASIAN AND COERCION

~ TTSTBTPOIOCFIWIUM ~ The Truth Seems To Be That Propaganda On Its Own Cannot Force Its Way Into Unwilling Minds

~ PBI-SMW-TF-IIEFTFTDTOIAHTEOTOMIID-TASRTIPWJTWFL ~ Propaganda By Itself – Succeeds Mainly With – The Frustrated – It Is Easier For The Frustrated To Detect Their Own Imaginings And Hear The Echo Of Their Own Musings In Impassioned Double-Talk And Sonorous Refrains Than In Precise Words Joined Together With Faultless Logic

LEADERSHIP

~ THTBAETFAO-A-AIDWTATA-BMALCMTA ~ There Has To Be An Eagerness To Follow And Obey – And – An Intense Dissatisfaction With Things As They Are – Before Movement And Leader Can Make Their Appearance

~ TQOI-STPAMRIAMML-WCI-TAG-TCDOTOOO-TSDOTW ~ The Quality Of Ideas – Seems To Play A Minor Role In A Mass Movement Leadership – What Counts Is – The Arrogant Gesture – The Complete Disregard Of The Opinion Of Others – The Singlehanded Defiance Of The World

~ TTB-NMHRAV-IBAOASP ~ The True Believer – No Matter How Rowdy And Violent – Is Basically An Obedient And Submissive Person

~ PWLA-BAI-STSAGWTO-T-PWA-S-SAS-C ~ People Whose Lives Are – Barren And Insecure – Seem To Show A Greater Willingness To Obey – Than – People Who Are – Self-Sufficient And Self-Confident

ACTION

~ AIAU-IB-S-F-A-IG-ASOPAW ~ Action Is A Unifier – It Brings – Self-Forgetting– And – It Gives – A Sense Of Purpose And Worth

SUSPICION

~ S-C-HV-SOEFTIOO ~ Self-Contempt – However Vague – Sharpens Our Eyes For The Imperfections Of Others

~ KTCW-TF-STESBAZTPBAO-SO-IAMTRO-MS-AO-AF ~ Knowing Themselves Continually Watched – The Faithful – Strive To Escape Suspicion By Adhering Zealously To Prescribed Behaviour And Opinion – Strict Orthodoxy – Is As Much The Result Of – Mutual Suspicion – As Of – Ardent Faith

~ NAT-IPADAASIOTKSA-SIGASEBAAOWTRWTETTMFW ~ Now And Then – Innocent People Are Deliberately Accused And Sacrificed In Order To Keep Suspicion Alive – Suspicion Is Given A Sharp Edge By Associating All Opposition Within The Ranks With The Enemy Threatening The Movement From Without

~ IITSDOTTBTBS-COTLF-S-S-A-T ~ It Is The Sacred Duty Of The True Believer To Be Suspicious – Constantly On The Lookout For – Saboteurs – Spies – And – Traitors

ERIC HOFFER ~ FACTORS PROMOTING SELF-SACRIFICE ~ THE TRUE BELIEVER ~ 1951

~ IWACW-TCTRCSPFTIIWAG ~ Identification With A Collective Whole – The Capacity To Resist Coercion Stems Partly From The Individual’s Identification With A Group

~ M-B-GILATC ~ Make-Believe – Glory Is Largely A Theatrical Concept

~ DOTP-A-MAM-TPIASAAI-AMDOTTOTM Deprecation Of The Present – As – Mean And Miserable – The Present Is A Shadow And An Illusion – A Mere Doormat On The Threshold Of The Millennium

~ ‘TWAN’-D/V/WH-A-MW-A-RT ~ “Things Which Are Not” – Dreams / Visions / Wild Hopes – Are – Mighty Weapons – – And Realistic Tools

~ D-TFOWTTBB-C-MNBDF-E/O-B-F-HW-TCOID-TEOTOAOT ~ Doctrine – The Facts On Which The True Believer Bases – Conclusions – Must Not Be Derived From – Experience / Observation – But – From – Holy Writ – The Certitude Of – Infallible Doctrine – The Embodiment Of The One And Only Truth

~ F-DNFSTHO-TRSTBT-TWFNDIDTAEDBO-TA-EPAL-TIOUTSTATA-PB-GAC ~ Fanaticism – Desperate Need For Something To Hold Onto ~ The Rule Seems To Be That – Those Who Find No Difficulty In Deceiving Themselves Are Easily Deceived By Others – They Are – Easily Persuaded And Led – The Inability Or Unwillingness To See Things As They Are – Promotes Both – Gullibility And Charlatanism

ERIC HOFFER ~ THE TRUE BELIEVER ~ 1951

~ AMM-R/S/N-N-I-B-TS-CEC-WGTAFL ~ All Mass Movements – Religious / Social / Nationalist – Not – Identical – But – They Share – Certain Essential Characteristics – Which Give Them A Family Likeness

~ AM-HDIDAA-DTEA-FTSTOH;TATTSTOM ~ All Movements – However Different In Doctrine And Aspiration – Draw Their Early Adherents – From The Same Types Of Humanity; They Appeal To The Same Types Of Mind

~ TAT-MMHMTIC-DNITAMAEBOP ~ The Assumption That – Mass Movements Have Many Traits In Common – Does Not Imply That All Movements Are Equally Beneficent Or Poisonous

~ IIATT-MWJARRMAABTPO-SASC-ITCOL-A-RM-IA-CIOC ~ It Is A Truism That – Many Who Join A Rising Revolutionary Movement Are Attracted By The Prospect Of – Sudden And Spectacular Change – In Their Conditions Of Life – A – Revolutionary Movement – Is A – Conspicuous Instrument Of Change

~ TIIUATT-LTSFOOEOO-SAF-AURIOMWTSOTAU-PWASOFTIAGWAWLTCIAII-W-TFFRC ~ There Is In Us A Tendency To – Locate The Shaping Forces Of Our Existence Outside Ourselves – Success And Failure – Are Unavoidably Related In Our Minds With The State Of Things Around Us – People With A Sense Of Fulfillment Think It A Good World And Would Like To Conserve It As It Is – While – The Frustrated Favor Radical Change

~ D-BI-DNICADFC-OFHTBPBDTID-OOTI-ASOP-TWAABTSDNTOC-NMHMTC ~ Discontent – By Itself – Does Not Invariably Create A Desire For Change – Other Factors Have To Be Present Before Discontent Turns Into Disaffection – One Of These Is – A Sense Of Power – Those Who Are Awed By Their Surroundings Do Not Think Of Change – No Matter How Miserable Their Condition

~ WOMOLISP-ATMIPTWCCTCOOE-WTTST-TPATF-WCA-DFOI-B-MOEAFR-WHATITWH-TTU ~ When Our Mode Of Life Is So Precarious – As To Make It Patent That We Cannot Control The Circumstances Of Our Existence – We Tend To Stick To – The Proven And The Familiar – We Counteract A – Deep Feeling Of Insecurity – By – Making Our Existence A Fixed Routine – We Hereby Acquire The Illusion That We Have – Tamed The Unpredictable

~ IIADLWLWHACAAOH-TIT-ACOTD-APAT-COTP-A-TFIAMAFITPOASOATL ~ It Is A Dangerous Life We Live When Hunger And Cold Are At Our Heels – There Is Thus – A – Conservatism Of The Destitute – As Profound As The – Conservatism Of The Privileged – And – The Former Is As Much A Factor In The Perpetuation Of A Social Order As The Latter

~ W-P-IN-JWFITF-IIUMTWOTNAPTSQ ~ Where – Power – Is Not – Joined With Faith In The Future – It Is Used Mainly To Ward Off The New And Preserve The Status Quo

~ EH-EWNBBAP-ILTGAMRD-F-TH-CDSFTMRSOP-AS-AW-AB ~ Extravagant Hope – Even When Not Backed By Actual Power – Is Likely To Generate A Most Reckless Daring – For – The Hopeful – Can Draw Strength From The Most Ridiculous Sources Of Power – A Slogan – A Word – A Button

~ FOTF-CUTLAACTTP-W-FITF-RURTC ~ Fear Of The Future – Causes Us To Lean Against And Cling To The Present – While – Faith In The Future – Renders Us Receptive To Change

~ FM[H]-TPHI-AUOVC-TMBID-YND-A-TMHTFTBTPOS-PD-IL-O-SNT-THAT-ASOIP-TMAHAECOTPAPOTF-F-TMBWIOTDIITVU-EIAH ~ For Men [Humans] – To Plunge Headlong Into – An Undertaking Of Vast Change – They Must Be Intensely Discontented – Yet Not Destitute – And – They Must Have The Feeling That By The Possession Of Some – Potent Doctrine – Infallible Leader – Or – Some New Technique – They Have Access To – A Source Of Irresistible Power – They Must Also Have An Extravagant Conception Of The Prospects And Potentialities Of The Future – Finally – They Must Be Wholly Ignorant Of The Difficulties Involved In Their Vast Undertaking – Experience Is A Handicap

~ WAMMBTAPWAIITIC-ICTTBAMABAE-WTH-T-‘M’-OSAMIDF ~ When A Mass Movement Begins To Attract People Who Are Interested In Their Individual Careers – It Ceases Then To Be A Movement And Becomes An Enterprise – When This Happens – The – “Mission” – Of Such A Movement Is Done For

~ OOTMPAOAMMIIOOASFIH ~ One Of The Most Potent Attractions Of A Mass Movement Is Its Offering Of A Substitute For Individual Hope

~ PCLWH-OWKDAOOBBIH ~ People Can Live Without Hope – Only When Kept Dazed And Out Of Breath By Incessant Hustling

~ TIOMM ~ The Interchangeability Of Mass Movements

~ WPARFAMM-TAURFAEM ~ When People Are Ripe For A Mass Movement – They Are Usually Ripe For Any Effective Movement

~ OMMRTIIA-TPOSAMMIOAMOSOMFA ~ One Mass Movement Readily Transforms Itself Into Another – The Problem Of Stopping A Mass Movement Is Often A Matter Of Substituting One Movement For Another

~ M-CSAASFAMM-EMMIIASAM-AMTAPL ~ Migration – Can Serve As A Substitute For A Mass Movement – Every Mass Movement Is In A Sense A Migration – A Movement Toward A Promised Land

~ TROTUIHA-FTCADOAGAODBIIE ~ The Role Of The Undesirables In Human Affairs – For The Character And Destiny Of A Group Are Often Determined By Its Inferior Elements

~ T-DAR-AO-TRMOANF ~ The – Discarded And Rejected – Are Often – The Raw Material Of A Nation’s Future

~ IIUTWPIRR-T-‘NP’-WTWTFOF-TMOBTIAFITV ~ It Is Usually Those Whose Poverty Is Relatively Recent – The – “New Poor” – Who Throb With The Ferment Of Frustration – The Memory Of Better Things Is As Fire In Their Veins

~ OFIGWWHMAWM-T-WWHNAWS-WALDWWLMT-T-WWSTLBOT ~ Our Frustration Is Greater When We Have Much And Want More – Than – When We Have Nothing And Want Some – We Are Less Dissatisfied When We Lack Many Things – Than – When We Seem To Lack But One Thing

~ WDMWSFSTFN-O-WWRSWEULIN ~ We Dare More When Striving For Superfluities Than For Necessities – Often – When We Renounce Superfluities We End Up Lacking In Necessities

~ TWSTLA-SAW-C-EAF-MTTD-F-ITCFF ~ Those Who See Their Lives As – Spoiled And Wasted – Crave – Equality And Fraternity – More Than They Do – Freedom

~ NS-BOS-C-A-RUWO-ATCATC ~ Nothing So – Bolsters Our Self-Confidence – And – Reconciles Us With Ourselves – As The Continuous Ability To Create

~ WCNHEOTWWRDNW-A-WRFAFWWRFO ~ We Can Never Have Enough Of That Which We Really Do Not Want – And – We Run Fastest And Farthest When We Run From Ourselves

~ The Inordinately Selfish Are Particularly Susceptible To Frustration – The Fiercest Fanatics Are Often Selfish People Who Were Forced – By Innate Shortcomings Or External Circumstances – To Lose Faith In Their Own Selves

~ IADINU-IHTB-V-A-INUNV-IHTBU ~ If A Doctrine Is Not Unintelligible – It Has To Be – Vague – And – If Neither Unintelligible Nor Vague – It Has To Be Unverifiable

~ RSTBT-TWFNDIDT-AEDBO-TA-EPAL-TIOUTSTATA-PB-BAC ~ The Rule Seems To Be That – Those Who Find No Difficulty In Deceiving Themselves – Are Easily Deceived By Others – They Are – Easily Persuaded And Led – The Inability Or Unwillingness To See Things As They Are – Promotes Both – Gullibility And Charlatanism

~ O-WWAWBOP-WTOHOAWUPOG ~ Often – When We Are Wronged By One Person – We Turn Our Hatred On A Wholly Unrelated Person Or Group

~ S-R-IALDRTD-TVOGWU-TIA-GC-BEBWAAABEMOS-R ~ Self-Righteousness – Is A Loud Din Raised To Drown – The Voice Of Guilt Within Us – There Is A – Guilty Conscience – Behind Every Brazen Word And Act And Behind Every Manifestation Of Self-Righteousness

~ TWTWHITAFTOH-C-TTAEWMITBOH ~ To Wrong Those We Hate Is To Add Fuel To Our Hatred – Conversely – To Treat An Enemy With Magnanimity Is To Blunt Our Hatred

~ IIPATT-VBF-AT-FBV ~ It Is Probably As True That – Violence Breeds Fanaticism – As That – Fanaticism Begets Violence