Eric Hoffer on The Inordinately Selfish (using that term in the pre-Randian meaning. Interestingly, Rand termed such people as actually being self-less, as explained in her discussion of Second-Handers in The Fountainhead (excerpted in For The New Intellectual, p. 68, Signet paperback edition). Excerpt from Hoffers The True Believer, The inordinately selfish are particularly susceptible to frustration. The more selfish a person, the more poignant his disappointments. It is the inordinately selfish, therefore, who are likely to be the most persuasive champions of selflessness. The fiercest fanatics are often selfish people who were forced, by innate shortcomings or external circumstances, to lose faith in their own selves. They separate the excellent instrument of their selfishness from their ineffectual selves and attach it to the service of some holy cause. And though it be a faith of love and humility they adopt, they can neither be loving nor humble. (p. 48)
Posted on: Fri, 14 Mar 2014 22:12:34 +0000
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