It is loneliness that makes the loudest noise. This is true of men as of dogs.
Interpretation
Loneliness often manifests itself in strong emotional expressions, affecting both humans and animals.
This quote by Eric Hoffer suggests that loneliness can be a powerful force, often resulting in significant emotional outbursts or signals. Just as dogs can express their loneliness through loud barking, humans too may display their feelings of isolation through their behaviors and actions, highlighting the deep impact of solitude on both species.
In practice
A speaker at a mental health seminar discussing the impact of loneliness on emotional well-being.
Language was invented to ask questions. Answers may be given by grunts and gestures, but questions must be spoken. Humanness came of age when man asked the first question. Social stagnation results not from a lack of answers but from the absence of the impulse to ask questions.
Faith in humanity, in posterity, in the destiny of one's religion, nation, race, party or family-what is it but the visualization of that eternal something to which we attach the self that is about to be annihilated?
You can discover what your enemy fears most by observing the means he uses to frighten you.
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.
Our credulity is greatest concerning the things we know least about.
Perhaps a modern society can remain stable only by eliminating adolescence, by giving its young, from the age of ten, the skills, responsibilities, and rewards of grownups, and opportunities for action in all spheres of life. Adolescence should be a time of useful action, while book learning and scholarship should be a preoccupation of adults.
The devil ain't got no power over me. The devil come, and me shake hands with the devil. Devil have his part to play. Devil's a good friend, too... because when you don't know him, that's the time he can mosh you down.
I'm not going to tell a person how to think, don't believe in that. What I want to do, when I write these books, is just to say don't be so sure of yourself. Let me pull the carpet out from underneath you, and let's see if you can still find the footing.
If you think taking care of yourself is selfish, change your mind. If you don't, you're simply ducking your responsibilities.
You are who you are at this moment because of everything that's ever happened to you, everything that you carried forward for yourself.
We don't make mistakes; we just have happy accidents.
Avoidable human misery is more often caused not so much by stupidity as by ignorance, particularly our ignorance about ourselves.
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