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?
Eric HofferRead
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.
Interpretation
What this quote means
This quote emphasizes the importance of questioning in human development and societal progress.
Eric Hoffer highlights that language's primary purpose is to facilitate inquiry, marking a pivotal moment in human evolution when the first questions were asked. He suggests that stasis in society is not due to a scarcity of answers, but rather because individuals and communities lose the drive to explore and question the world around them.
Themes
LanguageQuestionsHumanityCuriositySociety
In practice
Example use cases
This quote can be used in a motivational speech about the value of curiosity in education.
More from Eric Hoffer
All quotes →You can discover what your enemy fears most by observing the means he uses to frighten you.
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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.
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Our credulity is greatest concerning the things we know least about.
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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.
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It is the awareness of unfulfilled desires which gives a nation the feeling that it has a mission and a destiny.
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True wisdom consists in two things: Knowledge of God and Knowledge of Self.
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To agree without understanding is inane. To disagree without understanding is impudent.
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