The 34 best phrases of George Orwell

George Orwell (1903-1950) was a brilliant London-born British dystopian writer, especially famous for two of his works: “1984” Y "Rebelion 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 famous quotes of Aldous Huxley, a dystopian thinker"

Famous quotes of George Orwell

His novels critical of the status quo of his time are a true 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 we are going to know the best phrases of George Orwell: these are famous quotes that reveal the thought and values ​​of this global journalist.

1. The important thing is not to stay alive but to stay human.

Limitless vitalism.

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 prospect worries me far more than bombs.

Excerpt from his famous work 1984.

3. I would not want to see the USSR destroyed and I think that it must be defended if necessary. But I want people to be disappointed in her and understand that she must build her 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 best-known works: Farm Rebellion.

5. If who controls the past, controls the future, who controls the present, controls the past?

A reflection that leaves a great question in the air.

6. Until they are aware of their strength, they will not rebel, and until after they have revealed themselves, they will not be aware. 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 given in addition.

The obvious 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. What is characteristic of today's life is not insecurity and cruelty, but restlessness and poverty.

On the miseries of the time in which he lived, marked by war conflicts and hardships.

10. If freedom means anything, it will be, above all, the right to tell people what they do not want to hear.

Probably George Orwell's most memorable phrase.

11. In times of universal deception, telling the truth is a revolutionary act.

His journalistic side attests to this maxim about freedom of expression.

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12. Power lies in inflicting pain and humiliation.

Any form of power tends to exercise a framework of repression and indoctrination, according to Orwell.

12. Humanity is unlikely to be able to 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 must be the joint creation of poets and manual workers.

A unique vision on communication.

14. There is no crime, absolutely none, that cannot be tolerated when "our" side commits it.

The end cannot justify the means, not even when you believe in the end purpose of certain actions.

15. Not only does the nationalist not disapprove of atrocities committed by his own side, but he has an extraordinary ability not to even hear about them.

Very in line with the previous sentence.

16. All animals are the same, but some are more equal than others.

Excerpt from Rebellion on the Farm.

17. A racy joke is a kind of mental rebellion.

Especially in a time of certain repression in terms of intimate matters.

18. Perhaps one did not want so much to be loved as to be understood.

In love, perhaps we seek a protective look, and not so much to live great emotions and feelings.

19. The party wants to have power for the sake of power itself.

Political reflection on one of George Orwell's most memorable phrases.

20. Everything happens in the mind and only what happens there has a reality.

We are slaves to our own thoughts and reflections.

21. Doublethinking means the power to hold two contradictory beliefs in mind simultaneously, and to accept both.

A concept of the cognitive psychology which 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 made information management much easier.

A somewhat obvious reflection on Gutenberg's invention.

24. The fastest way to end a war is to lose it.

Giving up is always the end point.

25. When you loved someone, you loved him for himself, and if there was nothing else to give him, you could always give him love.

Great thought about true love, whatever the circumstances.

26. They can force you to say anything, but there is no way they will make you believe it. Inside you they can never enter.

About dignity and beliefs.

27. It is impossible to found a civilization on fear, hatred and cruelty. It would not last.

Repression has its hours counted: there is no human being who does not rebel at one time or another.

28. We have fallen so low that reformulating the obvious is the first obligation of an intelligent man.

Orwell's phrase especially understandable given the context of totalitarianisms that prevailed in Europe.

29. Nothing would change as long as power remained in the hands of a privileged minority.

The oligarchies always look out for their own short-term good.

30. Sanity does not depend on statistics.

Excerpt from 1984.

31. All the war propaganda, all the screaming and lies and hatred, invariably comes from people who are not fighting.

Those who move the war strings are comfortably seated in golden armchairs.

32. Every year there will be fewer words, so the radius of action of consciousness will be smaller and smaller.

Our language is our world, as the philosopher would say Ludwig Wittgenstein.

33. As a young man I had noticed that no newspaper ever faithfully tells how things happen.

Objectivity is lost when the editorial line depends on the criteria 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.