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{{Short description|Book by Eric Hoffer}}
{{refimprove|date=April 2020}}▼
{{Other uses|True believer (disambiguation)}}
▲{{refimprove|date=April 2020}}
{{Infobox book
| name = The True Believer
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| country = United States
| language = English
| subjects = [[Extremism]] and [[fanaticism]]<ref name="Teske 2009">{{cite book |last=Teske |first=Nathan |author-link= |year=2009 |origyear=1997 |title=Political Activists in America: The Identity Construction Model of Political Participation |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=7B38I2UEPa0C&pg=PA5 |location=[[University Park, Pennsylvania]] |publisher=[[Pennsylvania State University Press]] |pages=5–7 |isbn=978-0-271-03546-8 |lccn=2008053095}}</ref><br/>[[Social psychology]]<br/>[[Identity (social science)|Personal identity]]
| publisher = [[Harper (publisher)|Harper & Brothers]]
| pub_date = 1951
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| oclc = 422140753
}}
'''''The True Believer: Thoughts On The Nature Of Mass Movements''''' is a non-fiction book authored by American philosopher [[Eric Hoffer]]. Published in 1951, it depicts a variety of arguments in terms of applied [[world history]] and [[social psychology]] to explain why mass movements arise to challenge the status quo. Hoffer discussing the sense of individual [[Identity (social science)|identity]] and the holding to particular [[Ideal (ethics)|ideals]] that can lead to [[fanaticism]] among both leaders and followers.<ref name="page10">Hoffer, 1951, p. 10</ref>▼
▲'''''The True Believer: Thoughts
Hoffer initially attempts to explain the motives of the various types of personalities that give rise to mass movements in the first place and why certain efforts succeed while many others fail. He goes on to articulate a cyclical view of history such that why and how said movements start, progress and end is explored. Whether indented to be [[Culture|cultural]], [[Ideology|ideological]], [[Religion|religious]], or whatever else, Hoffer argues that mass movements are broadly interchangeable even when their stated goals or values differ dramatically. This makes sense, in the author's view, given the frequent similarities between them in terms of the psychological influences on its adherents. Thus, many will often flip from one movement to another, Hoffer asserts, and the often shared motivations for participation entail practical effects. Since, whether radical or reactionary, the movements tend to attract the same sort of people in his view, the author describes them as fundamentally using the same tactics including possessing the rhetorical tools. As examples, he often refers to the purported political enemies of [[communism]] and [[fascism]] as well as the religions of [[Christianity]] and [[Islam]].{{fact|date=April 2020}}▼
▲Hoffer initially attempts to explain the motives of the various types of personalities that give rise to [[mass
The first and best-known of Hoffer's books, ''The True Believer'' has been published in twenty-three editions between 1951 and 2002. He later touched upon similar themes in other works.{{fact|date=April 2020}} Prominent leaders and social commentators who have remarked publicly about their interest in the book include [[President of the United States|American President]] [[Dwight D. Eisenhower]] as well as [[Secretary of State (United States)|American Secretary of State]] and [[First lady of the United States|First Lady]] [[Hillary R. Clinton]].▼
▲The first and best-known of Hoffer's books, ''The True Believer''
Although receiving widespread popular acclaim, the socio-political debate spurred on by the book in terms of academic analysis and commentary has been ongoing. The core thesis of the interchangeability of mass movements and the inherent weakness within them that can cause adherents to slide into dogma and absolutism has attracted significant challenge; multiple scholars have used historical examples of solid group identities that rarely became interchangeable with other communities. Hoffer himself stated that he intended his analysis not to inherently condemn all mass movements in all contexts, particularly citing figures such as [[Jesus of Nazareth]] as those who promoted positive ideals. However, he continued to stress the central argument of his work.{{fact|date=April 2020}}
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The "New Poor" are the most likely source of converts for mass movements, for they recall their former wealth with resentment and blame others for their current misfortune. Examples include the mass evictions of relatively prosperous tenants during the [[English Civil War]] of the 1600s or the middle- and working-classes in Germany who passionately supported Hitler in the 1930s after suffering years of economic hardship. In contrast, the "abjectly poor" on the verge of starvation make unlikely true believers as their daily struggle for existence takes pre-eminence over any other concern.<ref>Hoffer, 1951, pp. 26–27</ref>
Racial and religious minorities, particularly those only partly assimilated into mainstream culture, are also found in mass movements. Those who live traditionalist lifestyles tend to be content, but the partially assimilated feel alienated from both their
A variety of what Hoffer terms "misfits" are also found in mass movements. Examples include "chronically bored", the physically disabled or perpetually ill, the talentless, and criminals or "sinners". In all cases, Hoffer argues, these people feel as if their individual lives are meaningless and worthless.<ref>Hoffer, 1951, pp. 46–55</ref>
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Hoffer identifies three main personality types as the leaders of mass movements, "men of words", "fanatics", and "practical men of action". No person falls exclusively into one category, and their predominant quality may shift over time.
Mass movements begin with "men of words" or "fault-finding intellectuals" such as clergy, journalists, academics, and students who condemn the established social order (such as
Eventually, the fanatic takes over leadership of the mass movement from the man of words. While the "creative man of words" finds satisfaction in his literature, philosophy or art, the "noncreative man of words" feels unrecognized or stifled and thus veers into an extremism against the social order. Though the man of words and the fanatic share a discontent with the world, the fanatic is distinguished by his viciousness and urge to destroy. The fanatic feels fulfilled only in a perpetual struggle for power and change. Examples include [[Jean-Paul Marat]], [[Maximilien de Robespierre]], [[Benito Mussolini]], and [[Adolf Hitler]].
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==Reception==
[[President of the United States|U.S. President]] [[Dwight Eisenhower]] read ''The True Believer'' in 1952, gave copies to friends, and recommended it to others. In 1956, ''[[Look (American magazine)|Look]]'' ran an article calling Hoffer "Ike's Favorite Author".<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.eisenhowermemorial.org/presidential-papers/second-term/documents/1051.cfm |work=Eisenhower Presidential Papers |title=Document #1051 Personal To Robert J. Biggs |publisher=Eisenhower Memorial |date=10 February 1959 |quote=see footnote 7 |accessdate=2012-09-15 |url-status=dead |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20111114143910/http://www.eisenhowermemorial.org/presidential-papers/second-term/documents/1051.cfm |archivedate=14 November 2011 }}</ref> British philosopher [[Bertrand Russell]] called the book "as sound intellectually as it is timely politically."<ref>{{Cite web |last=Shachtman |first=Tom |title=The Dockworker Is In
''The True Believer'' earned renewed attention after the [[September 11 attacks|terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001]],<ref>{{cite journal |first=Tim |last=Madigan |title=The True Believer Revisited |journal=[[Philosophy Now]] |issue=34 |url=http://www.philosophynow.org/issue34/The_True_Believer_Revisited |accessdate=2011-03-24}}</ref> and this occurred again also after the [[Tea Party
[[Hillary Clinton]] wrote in her 2017 book ''[[What Happened (Hillary Clinton book)|What Happened]]'', a work discussing her loss to [[Donald Trump]] in the [[2016 United States presidential election|2016 presidential race]], cited ''The True Believer'' as a book that she recommended to her staff during the campaign.<ref>{{
==Editions==
* {{cite book |last1=Hoffer |first1=Eric |title=The True Believer: Thoughts on the Nature of Mass Movements |date=1980 |publisher=Time-Life Books |location=Alexandria, Va. |isbn=0809436035}}
* {{cite book |first=Eric |last=Hoffer |title=The True Believer: Thoughts on the Nature of Mass Movements |publisher=Harper Perennial Modern Classics |year=2002 |isbn=978-0-060-50591-2}}
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* [[Political extremism]]
* [[Psychology of self]]
* [[Wilhelm Reich]]
** ''[[The Mass Psychology of Fascism]]''
* [[Revolution]]
** [[Revolutionary wave]]
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==References==
{{Wikiquote
{{Reflist}}
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[[Category:American history books]]
[[Category:American political books]]
[[Category:Books about authoritarianism]]
[[Category:Books about ideologies]]
[[Category:Books about social psychology]]
[[Category:English-language books]]
[[Category:Harper & Brothers books]]
[[Category:Popular psychology books]]
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