A Career of Word

            Eric Hoffer (7-25-1902 to 5-21-1983) was known at the longshoreman philosopher.  He was an ordinary man with extraordinary wisdom.  Hoffer was self-educated, never sought fame or fortune, and was the author of several books, the most notorious being, The True Believer.  The quotation below is from The Passionate State of Mind.

            What is farthest removed from our flesh-and-blood selves?

            Words

            To attach people to words is to detach them most effectively from life and possessions, and thus ready them for reckless acts of self-sacrifice.  Men will fight and die for a word more readily than for anything else.  The metaphysical double-talk which has fascinated the Germans since the days of Hegel was undoubtedly a factor in the rise of that German recklessness which has shaken our world to its foundations.  At present, Communist double-talk is moving millions in Europe and Asia to acts of daring and self-sacrifice.

            They are dangerous times when words are everything.

            All of Hoffer’s brilliant works came after World War II.  If he was alive today the dangerous words would be coming out of Islam.

            Religion is nothing but words.  Belief is faith in words. Hope is hope in words.  Very little about religion is tangible. 

            It is easier to invent the right words than dig for gold and silver.  If the words are powerful enough, gold and silver will be laid at your feet.