To be ruthless requires belief that our life on earth is but a brief prelude to an afterlife, or a temporary sacrifice before some utopia can be instituted._x000D_ _x000D_ Where there is the necessary technical skill to move mountains, there is no need for the faith that moves mountains.
Interpretation
The quote suggests that true belief in something beyond life spurs ruthless actions, while technical skill may replace the need for faith.
Eric Hoffer's quote emphasizes the idea that ruthless behavior often stems from a deep belief in an afterlife or a utopian future, implying that such convictions can justify extreme measures. He contrasts this with the notion that practical skills—like those capable of literally moving mountains—can diminish the need for faith, suggesting that when we have the ability to achieve our goals through technical means, the emotional or spiritual beliefs become less relevant.
In practice
In a debate on the ethics of technological advancement, one might quote Hoffer to argue that technical skills can eclipse moral considerations.
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 theatre is certainly a place for learning about the brevity of human glory: oh all those wonderful glittering absolutely vanished pantomime! Now I shall abjure magic and become a hermit : put myself in a situation where I can honestly say that I have nothing else to do but to learn to be good.
You can safely assume that you've created God in your own image when it turns out that God hates all the same people you do.
The human heart is like a ship on a stormy sea driven about by winds blowing from all four corners of heaven.
We know what works. Freedom Works. We know what's right. Freedom is right.
A truth that is merely handed on, without being thought anew from its very foundations, has lost its vital power.
Habit is the cement of society, the comfort of life, and, alas! The root of error.
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