George Orwell

1984, Animal Farm

Modern influential 77 sayings

Sayings by George Orwell

A people that elect corrupt politicians, imposters, thieves and traitors are not victims... but accomplices.

Uncertain — Often attributed, but the exact source is difficult to pin down. While it aligns with his political …
Controversial Unverifiable

The word 'socialism' has been so twisted and distorted that it means almost nothing.

1937 — The Road to Wigan Pier
Controversial Unverifiable

The English are not a spiritual people. They are a practical people.

1941 — The Lion and the Unicorn: Socialism and the English Genius
Controversial Unverifiable

The imagination, like certain wild animals, will not breed in captivity.

1952 (posthumous) — Such, Such Were the Joys
Controversial Unverifiable

The trouble with England is that it is not a country, it is a family.

1941 — The Lion and the Unicorn: Socialism and the English Genius
Controversial Unverifiable

One has to belong to the intelligentsia to believe things like that: no ordinary man could be such a fool.

1945 — Notes on Nationalism
Controversial Unverifiable

The English are not good at thinking, but they are good at feeling.

1941 — The Lion and the Unicorn: Socialism and the English Genius
Controversial Unverifiable

The most frightening thing about the world is that it is full of people who believe in things.

Uncertain — Often attributed, but the exact source is difficult to pin down. Reflects his skepticism of ideology…
Controversial Unverifiable

The proles, if only they could become conscious of their own strength, would have no need to conspire.

1949 — Nineteen Eighty-Four
Controversial Unverifiable

All that was required was an endless series of victories over your own memory.

1949 — Nineteen Eighty-Four
Controversial Unverifiable

The great mass of the people are not interested in politics.

1937 — The Road to Wigan Pier
Controversial Unverifiable

It's a beautiful thing, the destruction of words.

1949 — Nineteen Eighty-Four
Controversial Unverifiable

But if thought corrupts language, language can also corrupt thought.

1946 — Politics and the English Language
Controversial Unverifiable

The English intellectual is a sort of Europeanized Indian.

1941 — The Lion and the Unicorn: Socialism and the English Genius
Controversial Unverifiable

The average man is not a fool, but he is a coward.

Uncertain — Often attributed, but the exact source is difficult to pinpoint. Reflects his views on the apathy of…
Controversial Unverifiable

It is not merely that we are not allowed to be truthful, but that we are compelled to be dishonest.

1949 — Nineteen Eighty-Four
Controversial Unverifiable

The very word 'truth' has ceased to have any meaning.

1949 — Nineteen Eighty-Four
Controversial Unverifiable

The greatest danger to Western civilization is not communism, but the intellectual who thinks he is a communist.

Uncertain, post-WWII — Often attributed, but the exact phrasing and source are debated. Reflects his anti-totalitarian stan…
Controversial Unverifiable

The only way to keep a secret is to tell it to no one.

1949 — Nineteen Eighty-Four
Controversial Unverifiable

In a time of universal deceit, telling the truth is a revolutionary act.

Approx. 1940s — Often attributed, but exact phrasing and direct source in his published works can be debated; a comm…
Humorous Unverifiable