Impressionable

 

Eric Hoffer, on Page 73 of his book, The Passionate State of Mind, has two entries which I quote and then comment on.

 

Hoffer: “          124

 

It would be difficult to exaggerate the degree to which we are influenced by those we influence.”

 

My response: We are social creatures, so we are deeply impressionable for influenced by those we influence. If we are kind to others, then that will elevate us. If we are cruel to others, that will corrode what is still good and beautiful in our souls.

 

 

 

 

Hoffer: “          125

 

It seems the more unjustified a persecution, the more vehement and lasting it is likely to be. An unjust persecution ends only when the innocent victim is wiped off the face of the earth. An intense feeling of guilt is almost indistinguishable from blind faith; it fosters the same ruthlessness and persistence. And just as the intensity and persistence of a faith cannot be accepted as proof of its truth, so the intensity and persistence of a persecution cannot be cited as evidence of its justness.”

 

My response: Here is another true, Hofferian paradox: the more unjustified a persecution, the more vehement and lasting it is likely to be. Hatred of competing tribes, races, ideologies, and nations is an addictive craving that groups of people enjoy indulging themselves with, for nothing unifies a people like a common enemy to loathe.

 

Where a persecution is against someone that is innocent, there the persecution will be permanent and utterly vicious.

 

Notice how Hoffer identifies intense feeling of guilt as a vicious as blind faith for both are based on fanatical self-loathing now targeted at some external enemy. Intensity of hatred or blind faith are no guarantees of their justice or rightness; just the opposite actually.