The 34 best sentences of George Orwell, author of "Rebellion on the farm"
George Orwell (1903 - 1950) was a brilliant British dystopian writer, born in London, especially famous for two of his works: "1984" and "Rebellion on the farm".
In his books, George Orwell - who was actually a pseudonym and his real name was Eric Arthur Blair - transports us to a world in conflict. It is not strange, since he lived through convulsive times, opposing British imperialism and the Italian and German totalitarianisms of the 20th century.
- Related article: "The 42 best quotes of Aldous Huxley, a dystopian thinker"
Famous quotes by George Orwell
His critical novels with the status quo of his time are a real object of study for sociologists and social psychologists of our time. His work, although forged in the first half of the 20th century, has a totally contemporary reading.
Through this article let's get to know the best quotes of George Orwell These are famous quotes that reveal the thoughts and values of this global journalist.
1. The important thing is not to stay alive but to stay human.
Vitalism without limits.
2. If the leader says of such an event this did not happen, it did not happen. If he says that two and two are five, then two and two are five. This perspective worries me much more than bombs.
Excerpt from his famous work 1984.
3. I would not want to see the USSR destroyed and I think we have to defend it if necessary. But I want people to be disillusioned with it and understand that it must build its own socialist movement without Russian interference.
A pessimistic view on the tutelage of the Soviet Union.
4. War is war. The only good human being is the one who has died.
George Orwell's famous quote from another of his most famous works: Rebellion on the farm.
5. If who controls the past, controls the future, who controls the present, controls the past?
A reflection that leaves a great question on the air.
6. Until they are aware of their strength, they will not rebel, and even after they have revealed themselves, they will not be conscious. That's the problem.
On the docility of the masses, and why in many cases they do not wake up despite being victims of oppression.
7. Freedom means freedom to say that two plus two equals four. If that is admitted, everything else is added.
Obviousness must also be counted. And the not so obvious, by extension.
8. Seeing what is in front of our eyes requires constant effort.
By omnipresent, sometimes the obvious is invisible to our eyes.
9. The characteristic of current life is not insecurity and cruelty, but restlessness and poverty.
About the miseries of the time that he had to live, marked by war and hardship.
10. If freedom means something, it will be, above all, the right to tell people what they do not want to hear.
Probably, the most remembered phrase of George Orwell.
11. In times of universal deception, telling the truth is a revolutionary act.
His journalistic facet attests to this maxim on freedom of expression.
- It may interest you: "The 70 best sentences of freedom"
12. The power lies in inflicting pain and humiliation.
Any form of power tends to exercise a framework of repression and indoctrination, according to Orwell.
12. It is unlikely that Humanity can safeguard civilization unless it can evolve into a system of good and evil that is independent of heaven and hell.
On religion and ethical development essential for the survival of our societies.
13. The language should be the joint creation of poets and manual workers.
A unique vision about communication.
14. There is no crime, absolutely none, that can not be tolerated when "our" side commits it.
The end can not justify the means, not even when you believe in the final purpose of certain actions.
15. The nationalist not only does not disapprove of the atrocities committed by his own side, but he has an extraordinary capacity to not even hear about them.
Very much in line with the previous sentence.
16. All animals are equal, but some are more equal than others.
Extract of Rebellion in the farm.
17. A spicy joke is a kind of mental rebellion.
Especially in a time of some repression in terms of intimate matters.
18. Perhaps one did not want to be loved so much as to be understood.
In love, maybe we look for a protective look, and not so much live great emotions and feelings.
19. The party wants to have power for the love of power itself.
Political reflection in one of the most memorable sentences of George Orwell.
20. Everything happens in the mind and only what happens there has a reality.
We are slaves to our own thoughts and reflections.
21. Doublethink means the power to hold two contradictory beliefs in the mind simultaneously, and accept both.
A concept of cognitive psychology that was described in this way by the great Orwell.
22. Power is not a means; It is an end in itself.
Unfortunately, power only serves to contain itself.
23. The invention of the printing press facilitated the handling of information.
A somewhat obvious reflection on Gutenberg's invention.
24. The fastest way to end a war is to lose it.
Surrendering is always the final point.
25. When someone was loved, he was loved by himself, and if there was nothing else to give him, he could always be given love.
Magnificent thought about true love, whatever the circumstances.
26. They may force you to say anything, but there is no way they can make you believe it. You can never enter inside.
On dignity and beliefs.
27. It is impossible to found a civilization on fear, hatred and cruelty. It would not last.
The repression has the hours counted: there is no human being who does not rebel at one time or another.
28. We have fallen so low that the reformulation of the obvious is the first obligation of an intelligent man.
Orwell phrase especially understandable given the context of totalitarianism that prevailed in Europe.
29. Nothing would change as long as power remained in the hands of a privileged minority.
The oligarchies always look for their own good and short-term.
30. Sanity does not depend on statistics.
Extract of 1984.
31. All the propaganda of war, all the shouting and lies and hatred, invariably come from people who are not fighting.
Those who move the war lines are comfortably seated in armchairs of gold.
32. Every year there will be fewer words, so the radius of action of the conscience will be increasingly smaller.
Our language is our world, as the philosopher Ludwig Wittgenstein would say.
33. As a young man I had already noticed that no newspaper can ever faithfully tell how things happen.
Objectivity is lost when the editorial line depends on the criterion of the head of the media.
34. The more a society deviates from the truth, the more it will hate those who proclaim it.
Essential political reflection to stop and think about the design of a society in which lies prevail.
