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Totalitarianism8 quotes
If you want a picture of the future, imagine a boot stamping on a human face—for ever. — George Orwell · 1949The creatures outside looked from pig to man, and from man to pig, and from pig to man again; but already it was impossible to say which was which. — George Orwell · 1945Who controls the past controls the future. Who controls the present controls the past. — George Orwell · 1949The two aims of the Party are to conquer the whole surface of the earth and to extinguish once and for all the possibility of independent thought. — George Orwell · 1949Don't you see that the whole aim of Newspeak is to narrow the range of thought? In the end we shall make thoughtcrime literally impossible, because there will be no words in which to express it. — George Orwell · 1949Nothing was your own except the few cubic centimetres inside your skull. — George Orwell · 1949All 8 quotes →Dystopian future3 quotes
BIG BROTHER IS WATCHING YOU. — George Orwell · 1949WAR IS PEACE, FREEDOM IS SLAVERY, IGNORANCE IS STRENGTH — George Orwell · 1949If you want a picture of the future, imagine a boot stamping on a human face—for ever. — George Orwell · 1949Revolution3 quotes
The creatures outside looked from pig to man, and from man to pig, and from pig to man again; but already it was impossible to say which was which. — George Orwell · 1945There are only four ways in which a ruling class can fall from power. Either it is conquered from without, or it governs so inefficiently that the masses are stirred to revolt, or it allows a strong and discontented Middle group to come into being, or it loses its own self-confidence and willingness to govern. These causes do not operate singly, and as a rule all four of them are present in some degree. A ruling class which could guard against all of them would remain in power permanently. Ultimately the determining factor is the mental attitude of the ruling class itself. — George Orwell · 1949Why, America’s the only free nation on earth. Besides! Country’s too big for a revolution. No, no! Couldn’t happen here! — Sinclair Lewis · 1935Communism2 quotes
All animals are equal, but some animals are more equal than others. — George Orwell · 1945The creatures outside looked from pig to man, and from man to pig, and from pig to man again; but already it was impossible to say which was which. — George Orwell · 1945Freedom2 quotes
The choice for mankind lies between freedom and happiness, and that, for the great bulk of mankind, happiness is better. — George Orwell · 1949Freedom is the freedom to say that two plus two make four. If that is granted, all else follows. — George Orwell · 1949The future2 quotes
If you want a picture of the future, imagine a boot stamping on a human face—for ever. — George Orwell · 1949Who controls the past controls the future. Who controls the present controls the past. — George Orwell · 1949The masses2 quotes
The choice for mankind lies between freedom and happiness, and that, for the great bulk of mankind, happiness is better. — George Orwell · 1949"If there is hope," he had written in the diary, "it lies in the proles." — George Orwell · 1949Thinking for oneself2 quotes
Being in a minority, even a minority of one, did not make you mad. There was truth and there was untruth, and if you clung to the truth even against the whole world, you were not mad. — George Orwell · 1949Orthodoxy means not thinking—not needing to think. Orthodoxy is unconsciousness. — George Orwell · 1949America1 quote
Why, America’s the only free nation on earth. Besides! Country’s too big for a revolution. No, no! Couldn’t happen here! — Sinclair Lewis · 1935American politics1 quote
Why, America’s the only free nation on earth. Besides! Country’s too big for a revolution. No, no! Couldn’t happen here! — Sinclair Lewis · 1935Authoritarianism1 quote
Why are you so afraid of the word ‘Fascism,’ Doremus? Just a word-just a word! And might not be so bad, with all the lazy bums we got panhandling relief nowadays, and living on my income tax and yours-not so worse to have a real Strong Man, like Hitler or Mussolini-like Napoleon or Bismarck in the good old days-and have ‘em really run the country and make it efficient and prosperous again. ‘Nother words, have a doctor who won’t take any back-chat, but really boss the patient and make him get well whether he likes it or not! — Sinclair Lewis · 1935Awareness1 quote
Orthodoxy means not thinking—not needing to think. Orthodoxy is unconsciousness. — George Orwell · 1949Beliefs1 quote
DOUBLETHINK means the power of holding two contradictory beliefs in one's mind simultaneously, and accepting both of them. — George Orwell · 1949Critical thinking1 quote
I am convinced that everything that is worth while in the world has been accomplished by the free, inquiring, critical spirit, and that the preservation of this spirit is more important than any social system whatsoever. But the men of ritual and the men of barbarism are capable of shutting up the men of science and of silencing them forever. — Sinclair Lewis · 1935Disinformation1 quote
Who controls the past controls the future. Who controls the present controls the past. — George Orwell · 1949Domination and subordination1 quote
Every man is a king so long as he has someone to look down on. — Sinclair Lewis · 1935Emotional scars1 quote
But who can remember pain, once it’s over? All that remains of it is a shadow, not in the mind even, in the flesh. Pain marks you, but too deep to see. Out of sight, out of mind. — Margaret Atwood · 1985Equality1 quote
All animals are equal, but some animals are more equal than others. — George Orwell · 1945Existential terror1 quote
But people will do anything rather than admit that their lives have no meaning. No use, that is. No plot. — Margaret Atwood · 1985Fascism1 quote
Why are you so afraid of the word ‘Fascism,’ Doremus? Just a word-just a word! And might not be so bad, with all the lazy bums we got panhandling relief nowadays, and living on my income tax and yours-not so worse to have a real Strong Man, like Hitler or Mussolini-like Napoleon or Bismarck in the good old days-and have ‘em really run the country and make it efficient and prosperous again. ‘Nother words, have a doctor who won’t take any back-chat, but really boss the patient and make him get well whether he likes it or not! — Sinclair Lewis · 1935Happiness1 quote
The choice for mankind lies between freedom and happiness, and that, for the great bulk of mankind, happiness is better. — George Orwell · 1949Healing1 quote
But who can remember pain, once it’s over? All that remains of it is a shadow, not in the mind even, in the flesh. Pain marks you, but too deep to see. Out of sight, out of mind. — Margaret Atwood · 1985Human nature1 quote
The choice for mankind lies between freedom and happiness, and that, for the great bulk of mankind, happiness is better. — George Orwell · 1949Human needs1 quote
Perhaps one did not want to be loved so much as to be understood. — George Orwell · 1949Inner life1 quote
Nothing was your own except the few cubic centimetres inside your skull. — George Orwell · 1949Inner strength1 quote
Don't let the bastards grind you down. — Margaret Atwood · 1985Intellectual freedom1 quote
I am convinced that everything that is worth while in the world has been accomplished by the free, inquiring, critical spirit, and that the preservation of this spirit is more important than any social system whatsoever. But the men of ritual and the men of barbarism are capable of shutting up the men of science and of silencing them forever. — Sinclair Lewis · 1935Lack of love1 quote
Nobody dies from lack of sex. It's lack of love we die from. — Margaret Atwood · 1985Limits of language1 quote
Don't you see that the whole aim of Newspeak is to narrow the range of thought? In the end we shall make thoughtcrime literally impossible, because there will be no words in which to express it. — George Orwell · 1949