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George Orwell

57 quotes

George Orwell (1903–1950) was the pen name of Eric Arthur Blair, an English novelist, essayist, and critic best known for the allegorical novella *Animal Farm* and the dystopian novel *Nineteen Eighty-Four*. His clear, direct prose style and fierce opposition to totalitarianism made him one of the most influential writers of the 20th century.

“Freedom is the freedom to say that two plus two make four. If that is granted, all else follows.”

— George Orwell

Freedom

All Quotes by George Orwell

“Four legs good, two legs bad.”

— George Orwell

Good

“Good writing is like a windowpane.”

— George Orwell

Good

“Oceania was at war with Eurasia therefore Oceania had always been at war with Eurasia.”

— George Orwell

War

“Mankind is not likely to salvage civilization unless he can evolve a system of good and evil which is independent of heaven and hell.”

— George Orwell

Good

“We sleep safe in our beds because rough men stand ready in the night to visit violence on those who would do us harm.”

— George Orwell

Men

“On the whole, human beings want to be good, but not too good, and not quite all the time.”

— George Orwell

Good

“We have now sunk to a depth at which restatement of the obvious is the first duty of intelligent men.”

— George Orwell

Intelligence

“Happiness can exist only in acceptance.”

— George Orwell

Happiness

“Patriotism is usually stronger than class hatred, and always stronger than internationalism.”

— George Orwell

Patriotism

“Whatever is funny is subversive, every joke is ultimately a custard pie... a dirty joke is a sort of mental rebellion.”

— George Orwell

Funny

“A family with the wrong members in control that, perhaps, is as near as one can come to describing England in a phrase.”

— George Orwell

Family

“Doublethink means the power of holding two contradictory beliefs in one's mind simultaneously, and accepting both of them.”

— George Orwell

Power

“There are some ideas so wrong that only a very intelligent person could believe in them.”

— George Orwell

Intelligence

“For a creative writer possession of the 'truth' is less important than emotional sincerity.”

— George Orwell

Truth

“People sleep peaceably in their beds at night only because rough men stand ready to do violence on their behalf.”

— George Orwell

Men

“Sometimes the first duty of intelligent men is the restatement of the obvious.”

— George Orwell

Men

“Serious sport is war minus the shooting.”

— George Orwell

War

“Nationalism is power hunger tempered by self-deception.”

— George Orwell

Power

“War is war. The only good human being is a dead one.”

— George Orwell

Good

“He was an embittered atheist, the sort of atheist who does not so much disbelieve in God as personally dislike Him.”

— George Orwell

God