Today's X-Bonus - 02/05/03 01:15 PM
Eric Hoffer was a sufficiently remarkable man, enough so to justify posting this short bio:::
"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."
That's a pretty relevant quote for a new magazine in a new medium, built for men who
must adapt to a new workplace and world. The genius of it is this; it comes to us from
1973, when this "time of drastic change" was impossible to imagine, and from the pen of a
dockyard worker, Eric Hoffer, "The Longshoreman Philosopher". Born to a working-class
home in 1902, an accident left Hoffer blindfrom age seven until he was fifteen. After
regaining his sight he became an avid reader, but never received any formal education.
This lack of a degree led to a migrant life full of shitty jobs; picking fruit, working in
lumber camps and railroad gangs, washing dishes. He began to write in his late 30's and
finally landed a good steady job as a longshoreman in 1943. His first book, The True
Believer, Thoughts on the Nature of Mass Movements a study of fanaticism, mass
movements and how people led, joined and reacted to them, was published in 1951 to
critical acclaim. As he published more books, his success brought him some amount of
fame, but he continued to work the docks until 1967. He became a bit of a recluse after
1970, one of the reasons you may not have heard of him, but in 1982 he received the
Presidential Medal of Freedom, the highest award the US can award a civilian. He died in
1983."
Other great Hoffer quotes:
"It is the true believer's ability to shut his eyes and stop his ears to facts which in
his own mind deserve never to be seen or heard which is the source of his
unequalled fortitude and consistency."
"Passionate hatred can give meaning and purpose to an empty life."
"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."
That's a pretty relevant quote for a new magazine in a new medium, built for men who
must adapt to a new workplace and world. The genius of it is this; it comes to us from
1973, when this "time of drastic change" was impossible to imagine, and from the pen of a
dockyard worker, Eric Hoffer, "The Longshoreman Philosopher". Born to a working-class
home in 1902, an accident left Hoffer blindfrom age seven until he was fifteen. After
regaining his sight he became an avid reader, but never received any formal education.
This lack of a degree led to a migrant life full of shitty jobs; picking fruit, working in
lumber camps and railroad gangs, washing dishes. He began to write in his late 30's and
finally landed a good steady job as a longshoreman in 1943. His first book, The True
Believer, Thoughts on the Nature of Mass Movements a study of fanaticism, mass
movements and how people led, joined and reacted to them, was published in 1951 to
critical acclaim. As he published more books, his success brought him some amount of
fame, but he continued to work the docks until 1967. He became a bit of a recluse after
1970, one of the reasons you may not have heard of him, but in 1982 he received the
Presidential Medal of Freedom, the highest award the US can award a civilian. He died in
1983."
Other great Hoffer quotes:
"It is the true believer's ability to shut his eyes and stop his ears to facts which in
his own mind deserve never to be seen or heard which is the source of his
unequalled fortitude and consistency."
"Passionate hatred can give meaning and purpose to an empty life."