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Old 09-26-2009, 09:39 AM   #70
WT Sharpe
Bah, humbug!
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I don't know how "obscure" this book is, but The True Believer: Thoughts on the Nature of Mass Movements by Eric Hoffer is well worth reading.

Eric Hoffer was a self-educated longshoreman who wrote books in his spare time. This one is an interesting foray into the minds of fanatics of all types; a highly readable investigation of people who commit themselves fully to movements and their reasons for doing so. It's perhaps even more relevant today than when it was first published in 1951.

While he was President, Dwight D. Eisenhower received a letter from Robert Biggs, a terminally ill World War II veteran, who complained that the President's recent speeches displayed hedging and uncertainty. "We wait for someone to speak for us and back him completely if the statement is made in truth." Biggs wrote.

As part of his response, Eisenhower wrote:

"The mental stress and burden which this form of government imposes has been particularly well recognized in a little book about which I have spoken on several occasions. It is 'The True Believer,' by Eric Hoffer; you might find it of interest. In it, he points out that dictatorial systems make one contribution to their people which leads them to tend to support such systems--freedom from the necessity of informing themselves and making up their own minds concerning these tremendous complex and difficult questions."

As someone who is not immune to the temptation to certainty in the correctness of my own opinions and intolerance towards dissenting viewpoints, over the years I have found this book to be invaluable for restoring a sense of balance and perspective.

I haven't been able to find an electronic version of the work.
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