Skip to content
quotesby

About this quote

What does it mean?
Commitment turns hysterical when those with nothing to lose preach sacrifice or generosity, as they have no real cost.
In plain terms
People who have nothing to lose talk too much about giving things up.
What can you take from it?
Be skeptical of radical calls for sacrifice from those unaffected.

Where it applies

  • political rhetoric
  • moralizing
  • activism

Putting it to work

  • evaluate who bears the cost of advice
  • value tested commitment over rhetoric

Questions to consider

  • Who truly pays the price?
  • Is my advice rooted in experience?

Another view

Sometimes those with least to lose are most motivated to change.

More from Eric Hoffer

  1. It is the malady of our age that the young are so busy teaching us that they have no time left to learn.

    Permalink to quote #101
  2. Nature has no compassion. Nature accepts no excuses and the only punishment it knows is death.

    Permalink to quote #103
  3. The central task of education is to implant a will and a facility for learning; it should produce not learned but learning people. The truly human society is a…

    Permalink to quote #100

Related quotes

  1. Thou must be true thyself, If thou the truth wouldst teach; Thy soul must overflow, if thou Another's soul would'st reach! It needs the overflow of heart To gi…

    Horatius BonarHoratius Bonar quote #1
  2. I've burned my own house down, the torch is in my hand. Now I'll burn down the house of anyone who wants to follow me.

    KabirKabir quote #1
  3. My dear ones, I will not make a comparative analysis. I will only say that it is what costs that constitutes value. It is not, in fact, possible to be truly fr…

    John Paul II (Pope)John Paul II (Pope) quote #2