True believers and mass movements
"El fanático está perpetuamente incompleto e inseguro. No puede generar seguridad en sí mismo a partir de sus recursos individuales —de su yo rechazado— sino que la encuentra sólo aferrándose apasionadamente a cualquier apoyo que se le presente. Este apego apasionado es la esencia de su devoción ciega y su religiosidad, y ve en él la fuente de toda... See more
Book Freak 169: The True Believer: Thoughts on the Nature of Mass Movements
Their repetitive rituals, seemingly close-knit social bonds, and ironclad rules about who is “good” and who is “bad” appeal to isolated people who yearn for connection and structure.
Devon Price • Unmasking Autism: Discovering the New Faces of Neurodiversity
There are other safer substitutes for a mass movement. In general, any arrangement which either discourages atomistic individualism or facilitates self-forgetting or offers chances for action and new beginnings tends to counteract the rise and spread of mass movements.
Eric Hoffer • The True Believer: Thoughts on the Nature of Mass Movements (Perennial Classics)
Society’s attraction to so-called cults (both the propensity to join them and the anthropological fascination with them) tends to thrive during periods of broader existential questioning.