George Orwell Quotes - Page 21

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He thought with a kind of astonishment of the biological uselessness of pain and fear, the treachery of the human body which always freezes into inertia at exactly the moment when a special effort is needed.

George Orwell

Pain, Effort, Special

George Orwell (1983). “1984”, p.229, Houghton Mifflin Harcourt

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Looking at the world as a whole, the drift for many decades has been not towards anarchy but towards the reimposition of slavery. We may be heading not for general breakdown but for an epoch as horribly stable as the slave empires of antiquity.

George Orwell

World, Slavery, May

George Orwell (1968). “The Collected Essays, Journalism, and Letters of George Orwell: In front of your nose, 1945-1950”

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Never have ideas about children, and never have ideas for them.

George Orwell

Teacher, Children, Ideas

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I did try very hard to tell the whole truth without violating my literary instincts.

George Orwell

Trying, Instinct, Hard

George Orwell (1970). “A Collection of Essays”, p.315, Houghton Mifflin Harcourt

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High sentiments always win in the end. The leaders who offer blood, toil, tears and sweat always get more out of their followers than those who offer safety and a good time. When it comes to the pinch, human beings are heroic.

George Orwell

Inspirational, Motivational, Leadership

George Orwell (1970). “A Collection of Essays”, p.114, Houghton Mifflin Harcourt

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Never again will you be capable of ordinary human feeling. Everything will be dead inside you. Never again will you be capable of love, or friendship, or joy of living, or laughter, or curiosity, or courage, or integrity. You will be hollow. We shall squeeze you empty and then we shall fill you with ourselves.

George Orwell

Laughter, Integrity, Joy

George Orwell (2016). “1984”, p.292, ENRICH CULTURE GROUP LIMITED

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He was alone. The past was dead, the future was unimaginable.

George Orwell

Past, Nineteen, 1984 Important

George Orwell, A.M. Heath (2003). “Animal Farm and 1984”, p.128, Houghton Mifflin Harcourt

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The cheaper books become, the less money is spent on books.

George Orwell

Book, Cheaper

George Orwell, Sonia Orwell, Ian Angus (1968). “The Collected Essays, Journalism and Letters of George Orwell: An age like this, 1920-1940”, Harvill Secker

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Whatever goes upon two legs is an enemy. Whatever goes upon four legs, or has wings, is a friend.

George Orwell

Wings, Two, Enemy

David Ball, George Orwell (1984). “George Orwell's Animal Farm”, p.33, Barron's Educational Series

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To walk through the ruined cities of Germany is to feel an actual doubt about the continuity of civilization.

George Orwell

War, Civilization, Cities

1945 In the Observer, 8 Apr.

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There is no such thing as a naval dictatorship.

George Orwell

Naval, Dictatorship

George Orwell (2009). “Facing Unpleasant Facts: Narrative Essays”, p.116, Houghton Mifflin Harcourt

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Snobbishness, like hypocrisy, is a check upon behaviour whose value from a social point of view has been underrated.

George Orwell

Views, Hypocrisy, Behaviour

George Orwell, Keith Gessen (2009). “All Art Is Propaganda: Critical Essays”, p.247, Houghton Mifflin Harcourt

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The most stirring battle-poem in English is about a brigade of cavalry which charged in the wrong direction.

George Orwell

History, Battle, Cavalry

George Orwell (2009). “Facing Unpleasant Facts: Narrative Essays”, p.115, Houghton Mifflin Harcourt

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Perhaps it is only when people are somewhere near the starvation level that they have anything to sing about.

George Orwell

People, Levels, Starvation

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It had become usual to give Napoleon the Credit for every Successful achievement and every stroke of good fortune. You would often hear one hen remark to another, "Under the guidance of our leader, Comrade Napoleon, I have laid five eggs in six days" or two cows, enjoying a drink at the pool, would exclaim, "thanks to the leadership of Comrade Napoleon, how excellent this water tastes!".

George Orwell

Successful, Eggs, Two

George Orwell (2009). “Animal Farm: A Fairy Story”, p.136, Houghton Mifflin Harcourt

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Political chaos is connected with the decay of language... one can probably bring about some improvement by starting at the verbal end.

George Orwell

Political Language, Decay, Chaos

George Orwell (1986). “The complete works of George Orwell”

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In the nineteenth century some parts of the world were unexplored, but there was almost no restriction on travel.:; Up to 1914 you did not need a passport for any country except Russia.:; The European emigrant, if he could scrape together a few pounds for the passage, simply set sail for America or Australia, and when he got there no questions were asked.:; In the eighteenth century it had been quite normal and safe to travel in a country with which your own country was at war.

George Orwell

Country, War, America

George Orwell (1968). “The Collected Essays, Journalism, and Letters of George Orwell: As I please, 1943-1945”

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Man is the only real enemy we have. Remove Man from the scene, and the root cause of hunger and overwork is abolished forever.

George Orwell

Real, Men, Roots

George Orwell, A.M. Heath (2003). “Animal Farm and 1984”, p.22, Houghton Mifflin Harcourt

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In a town like London there are always plenty of not quite certifiable lunatics walking the streets, and they tend to gravitate towards bookshops, because a bookshop is one of the few places where you can hang about for a long time without spending any money.

George Orwell

Long, London, Towns

George Orwell (2009). “Facing Unpleasant Facts: Narrative Essays”, p.39, Houghton Mifflin Harcourt

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How could you communicate with the future? It was impossible. Either the future would resemble the present in which case it would not listen to him, or it would be different from it, and his predicament would be meaningless.

George Orwell

Different, Would Be, Impossible

George Orwell (1983). “1984”, p.32, Houghton Mifflin Harcourt

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For the ordinary man is passive. Within a narrow circle (home life, and perhaps the trade unions or local politics) he feels himself master of his fate, but against major events he is as helpless as against the elements. So far from endeavoring to influence the future, he simply lies down and lets things happen to him.

George Orwell

Lying, Home, Fate

George Orwell, Keith Gessen (2009). “All Art Is Propaganda: Critical Essays”, p.105, Houghton Mifflin Harcourt

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It reminded us that propaganda in some form or other lurks in every book, that every work of art has a meaning and a purpose - a political, social and religious purpose - that our aesthetic judgements are always coloured by our prejudices and beliefs

George Orwell

Religious, Art, Book

George Orwell (1998). “The complete works of George Orwell”

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Manchester is the belly and guts of the nation

George Orwell

Guts, Belly, Manchester

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Progress and reaction have both turned out to be swindles. Seemingly, there is nothing left but quietism - robbing reality of its terrors by simply submitting to it.

George Orwell

Reality, Progress, Literature

George Orwell (1970). “A Collection of Essays”, p.250, Houghton Mifflin Harcourt

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Politically, Swift was one of those people who are driven into a sort of perverse Toryism by the follies of the progressive party of the moment.

George Orwell

Party, People, Progressive

George Orwell, Ian Angus, Sheila Davison (1998). “The Complete Works of George Orwell: Smothered under journalism, 1946”

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Born: June 25, 1903
Died: January 21, 1950
Occupation: Novelist
Cite this Page: Citation

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