What Orwell Actually Believed
Some quotes from Orwell:
- “During times of universal deceit, telling the truth becomes a revolutionary act.” – This quote is from Orwell’s essay “Looking Back on the Spanish War,” which was published in 1943.
- “In a time of deceit telling the truth is a revolutionary act.” – This quote is often attributed to Orwell, but it’s actually a slightly altered version of the first quote listed above. It’s unclear where the alteration originated.
- “The further a society drifts from truth the more it will hate those who speak it.” – This quote is from Orwell’s novel “Homage to Catalonia,” which was published in 1938.
- “The very concept of objective truth is fading out of the world. Lies will pass into history.” – This quote is from Orwell’s novel “1984,” which was published in 1949.
- “If liberty means anything at all, it means the right to tell people what they do not want to hear.” – This quote is from Orwell’s essay “The Freedom of the Press,” which was published in 1945.
- “Freedom is the freedom to say that two plus two make four. If that is granted, all else follows.” – This quote is from Orwell’s novel “1984.”
- “Political language is designed to make lies sound truthful and murder respectable, and to give an appearance of solidity to pure wind.” – This quote is from Orwell’s essay “Politics and the English Language,” which was published in 1946.
- “The truth is incontrovertible. Malice may attack it, ignorance may deride it, but in the end, there it is.” – This quote is from a speech Orwell gave in 1943, which was later published as an essay called “As I Please” in the Tribune.
- “The most effective way to destroy people is to deny and obliterate their own understanding of their history.” – This quote is from Orwell’s novel “1984.”
- “We do not merely destroy our enemies, we change them.” – This quote is from Orwell’s essay “Reflections on Gandhi,” which was published in 1949.
John Light
These are very interesting. George Orwell really had a vision for truth, and could see what would happen if people allowed themselves and society to believe a lie, a false view of reality and what its conclusion would be.