George Orwell (1903 – 1950) was a brilliant British dystopian writer, born in London, especially famous for two of his works: “1984” and “Rebellion on the Farm”.

In his books, George Orwell – who was actually a pseudonym and his real name was Eric Arthur Blair – transports us into a world of conflict. This is not surprising, since he lived through turbulent times, opposing British imperialism and the Italian and German totalitarianisms of the 20th century.

George Orwell’s famous phrases

His novels critical of the status quo of his time are a real 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 sentences of George Orwell : they are famous quotes that discover us the thought and values of this global journalist.

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

Vitalism without limits.

2. If the leader says of such an event this did not happen, then it did not happen. If he says that two and two are five, then two and two are five. This perspective worries me much more than the bombs.

Extract from his famous work 1984.

3. I would not want to see the USSR destroyed and I think it should be defended if necessary. But I want people to be disappointed in it and to understand that they must build their own socialist movement without Russian interference.

A pessimistic view on the guardianship 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 most famous works: Animal Farm.

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

A reflection that leaves a big question open.

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 is 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 the freedom to say that two plus two is four. If that is admitted, everything else is given in addition.

The obvious must also be able to be told. And the not so obvious, by extension.

8. Seeing what is before our eyes requires constant effort.

As omnipresent, sometimes the obvious is invisible to our eyes.

9. What characterizes life today is not insecurity and cruelty, but unrest and poverty.

On the miseries of the time he lived through, marked by war and hardship.

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 quote.

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

His journalistic facet bears witness to this maxim of freedom of expression.

  • You may be interested in: “The 70 best sentences of freedom”

12. The power lies in inflicting pain and humiliation.

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

12. It is unlikely that mankind can 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, which is essential for the survival of our societies.

13. The language must be the joint creation of poets and manual workers.

A unique approach to communication.

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

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

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

Very much in line with the previous sentence.

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

Excerpt from Animal Farm.

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

Especially at a time of some repression in terms of intimate matters.

18. Perhaps one does not so much wish to be loved as to be understood.

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

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

Political reflection in 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. Doublethink means the power to hold two contradictory beliefs in the mind simultaneously, and to accept both.

A concept of cognitive psychology that 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 handling much easier.

A somewhat obvious reflection on Gutenberg’s invention.

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

Surrender is always the end point.

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

Magnificent thought about true love, whatever the circumstances.

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

About dignity and beliefs.

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

The hours of repression are numbered: there is no human being who does not rebel at one time or another.

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

Orwell’s phrase is 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.

Oligarchies always look out for their own short-lived good.

30. Sanity doesn’t depend on statistics.

Excerpt from 1984.

31. All war propaganda, all shouting and lying and hatred, invariably comes from people who are not fighting.

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

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

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

33. Even as a young man, I had noticed that no newspaper ever accurately reported how things happened.

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.

It is essential to reflect on politics in order to stop and think about the design of a society in which lies reign.