lately i've been thinking about eric hoffer's writing. when i was around 14 i stumbled across his book in my grandma's old books (which we kept at our house). passionate state of mind. the title caught my attention and the green cover caught my eye. it looked like a light read. i had been devouring books by age 8 and would sometimes be caught reading encyclopedias for the lack of other reading material. heck i would catch myself reading the shampoo ingredients and safety warnings and such. i think that's where chloe gets her love of reading, though kelsey's mom i noticed, has a passion for reading. anyways, i read that book and i think its a very powerful book that does actually stimulate you to think. its just a bunch of insightful quotes as to the nature of man and society and life. he was a working man and a philosopher. i didnt and still dont agree with all his writing but for the majority its a must read. here are some of his quotes:

When people are free to do as they please, they usually imitate each other.

An empty head is not really empty; it is stuffed with rubbish. Hence the difficulty of forcing anything in to an empty head.

We do not usually look for allies when we love. Indeed, we often look on those who love with us as rivals and trespassers. But we always look for allies when we hate.

It is not love of self but hatred of self which is at the root of the troubles that afflict our world.

How much easier is self-sacrifice than self-realization.

Animals can learn, but it is not by learning that they become dogs, cats, or horses. Only man has to learn to become what he is supposed to be.

No one has a right to happiness.

In a time of drastic change it is the learners who inherit the future. The learned usually find themselves equipped to live in a world that no longer exists.

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

Propaganda does not deceive people; it merely helps them to deceive themselves.

We have rudiments of reverence for the human body, but we consider as nothing the rape of the human mind.