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About this quote

What does it mean?
Leaving people alone forces them into self-imposed struggle that becomes an inescapable bondage.
In plain terms
Leaving people alone traps them in self-imposed struggle.
What can you take from it?
Isolation can become a trap of self-bondage.

Where it applies

  • entrepreneurship
  • social withdrawal
  • personal responsibility

Putting it to work

  • seek community support
  • balance independence with connection

Questions to consider

  • Does independence feel like freedom or bondage?
  • When does relying on yourself become too much?

Another view

Some people thrive in independence and self-bondage.

More from Eric Hoffer

  1. When grubbing for necessities man is still an animal. He becomes uniquely human when he reaches out for the superfluous and extravagant.

    Permalink to quote #224
  2. Whoever originated the cliche that money is the root of all evil knew hardly anything about the nature of evil and very little about human beings.

    Permalink to quote #226
  3. What are we when we are alone? Some, when they are alone, cease to exist.

    Permalink to quote #223

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