Craving, not having, is the mother of a reckless giving of oneself.
Interpretation
Desires and unfulfilled cravings can lead individuals to give themselves away without thought.
In this quote, Eric Hoffer suggests that the deep desire for something unattainable often drives people to engage in risky behavior, including self-sacrifice. When an individual yearns for an experience, love, or fulfillment that they do not possess, they may surrender parts of themselves recklessly in an attempt to find satisfaction or connection.
In practice
In a discussion about relationships, one might say, 'As Eric Hoffer said, craving is often a dangerous force that leads us to give too much of ourselves.'
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.
Privacy is so sacred, and any time a victim is returned, a survivor is found and rescued, privacy is one of the greatest gifts we can give them because if they decide to share, that's up to them, and they will come forward.
No woman shall have the legal right to bear a child without a permit for parenthood.
Even as people take pride in their national independence, we know we are becoming more and more interdependent.
To say good-bye is to deny separation; it is to say Today we play at going our own ways, but we'll see each other tomorrow. Men invented farewells because they somehow knew themselves to be immortal, even while seeing themselves as contingent and ephemeral.
Society is no comfort, to one not sociable.
Forcing people to eat together is an effective way to promote tolerance.
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