When asked by a young man if he should seek to marry, Socrates answered him:
“By all means marry: if you get a good wife, you will be happy; if you get a bad one, you will become a philosopher.”
The Oracle of Delphi called Socrates 'the wisest man' because he said:
"I know I know nothing!"
Of course, he only knew this because his wife, Xanthippe, told him so.
Every day!
July 1, 2015 at 15:53
Xanthippa:
Wow, I have never heard of this guy. Do you know which book he is referring to in this video? I wouldn’t mind reading it.
July 2, 2015 at 14:29
CodeSlinger:
Since this interview was recorded in 1967, and they are talking about his latest book, I suspect they are referring to ‘The temper of our time’. But, this excerpt comes from “Eric Hoffer: The Passionate State of Mind” with Eric Sevareid, CBS, September 19, 1967 (rebroadcast on November 14, due to popular demand). So, that could be the book they are referring to, though it was written much earlier.
Here is the list of his books:
1951 The True Believer: Thoughts On The Nature of Mass Movements ISBN 0-06-050591-5
1955 The Passionate State of Mind, and Other Aphorisms ISBN 1-933435-09-7
1963 The Ordeal of Change ISBN 1-933435-10-0
1967 The Temper of Our Time
1969 Working and Thinking on the Waterfront: A Journal, June 1958 to May 1959
1971 First Things, Last Things
1973 Reflections on the Human Condition ISBN 1-933435-14-3
1976 In Our Time
1979 Before the Sabbath
1982 Between the Devil and the Dragon: The Best Essays and Aphorisms of Eric Hoffer ISBN 0-06-014984-1
1983 Truth Imagined ISBN 1-933435-01-1
He certainly seems very interesting. Here are some of his quotes on tyranny.