6 Eric Hoffer Quotes on Religion

Eric Hoffer quotes on religion

3. It was the craving to be a one and only people which impelled the ancient Hebrews to invent a one and only God whose one and only people they were to be.

10. The less justified a man is in claiming excellence for his own self, the more ready he is to claim all excellence for his nation, his religion, his race or his holy cause.

23. The opposite of the religious fanatic is not the fanatical atheist but the gentle cynic who cares not whether there is a god or not.

24. Mass movements can rise and spread without belief in a God, but never without belief in a devil.

60. To know a person's religion we need not listen to his profession of faith but must find his brand of intolerance.

190. Religion is not a matter of God, church, holy cause, etc. These are but accessories. The source of religious preoccupation is in the self, or rather the rejection of the self. Dedication is the obverse side of self-rejection. Man alone is a religious animal because, as Montaigne points out, 'it is a malady confined to man, and not seen in any other creature, to hate and despise ourselves.'