Quotes from book

The True Believer

Section 47
The True Believer (1951), Part Three: United Action and Self-Sacrifice
Context: Glory is largely a theatrical concept. There is no striving for glory without a vivid awareness of an audience—the knowledge that our mighty deeds will come to the ears of our contemporaries or "of those that are to be." We are ready to sacrifice our true, transitory self for the imaginary eternal self we are building up, by our heroic deeds, in the opinion and imagination of others.

Section 85
The True Believer (1951), Part Three: United Action and Self-Sacrifice

The True Believer (1951), Part Three: United Action and Self-Sacrifice
Context: It is easier to hate an enemy with much good in him than one who is all bad. We cannot hate those we despise. The Japanese had an advantage over us in that they admired us more than we admired them. They could hate us more fervently than we could hate them. The Americans are poor haters in international affairs because of their innate feeling of superiority over all foreigners. An American's hatred for a fellow American (for Hoover or Roosevelt) is far more virulent than any antipathy he can work up against foreigners. It is of interest that the backward South shows more xenophobia than the rest of the country. Should Americans begin to hate foreigners wholeheartedly, it will be an indication that they have lost confidence in their own way of life. <!-- p. 96

Section 10
The True Believer (1951), Part One: The Appeal of Mass Movements
Context: There is no doubt that in exchanging a self-centered for a selfless life we gain enormously in self-esteem. The vanity of the selfless, even those who practice utmost humility, is boundless.

Section 75
The True Believer (1951), Part Three: United Action and Self-Sacrifice
Context: Passionate hatred can give meaning and purpose to an empty life. Thus people haunted by the purposelessness of their lives try to find a new content not only by dedicating themselves to a holy cause but also by nursing a fanatical grievance. A mass movement offers them unlimited opportunities for both.

Section 10
The True Believer (1951), Part One: The Appeal of Mass Movements

Section 62
The True Believer (1951), Part Three: United Action and Self-Sacrifice

Section 100
The True Believer (1951), Part Three: United Action and Self-Sacrifice

Section 9
The True Believer (1951), Part One: The Appeal of Mass Movements

Section 94
The True Believer (1951), Part Three: United Action and Self-Sacrifice

Section 45, Ch. 13 Factors Promoting Self-sacrifice
The True Believer (1951), Part Three: United Action and Self-Sacrifice

The True Believer (1951), Part Four: Beginning and End

Section 54
The True Believer (1951), Part Three: United Action and Self-Sacrifice

Section 83
The True Believer (1951), Part Three: United Action and Self-Sacrifice

Section 37, Ch.6 Misfits
The True Believer (1951), Part Two: The Potential Converts

Preface
The True Believer (1951)

Section 65, Ch.14 Unifying Agents
The True Believer (1951), Part Three: United Action and Self-Sacrifice

Section 21, Ch.5 The Poor
The True Believer (1951), Part Two: The Potential Converts

Section 113, Ch. 17 The Practical Men of Action
The True Believer (1951), Part Four: Beginning and End