"Orwell's 1984 explained that "the special function of certain Newspeak words … was not so much to express meanings as to destroy them." During the week after U.S. missiles hit sites in Sudan and Afghanistan, some Americans seemed uncomfortable. A vocal minority even voiced opposition. But approval was routine among those who had learned a few easy Orwellian lessons... At all times, Americans must be kept fully informed about who to hate and fear... When terrorists attack, they're terrorizing. When we attack, we're retaliating. When they respond to our retaliation with further attacks, they're terrorizing again... No matter how many times they've lied in the past, U.S. officials are credible in the present. When they... [say] the bombed pharmaceutical factory in Khartoum was making ingredients for nerve gas, that should be good enough for us.... Might doesn't make right — except in the real world, when it's American might. Only someone of dubious political orientation would split hairs about international law."
Quote Details
Added by wikiquote-import-bot
Unverified quote
0 likes
Original Language: English
Available Languages (1)
Sources
Norman Solomon, "Orwellian Logic 101 — A Few Simple Lessons, FAIR" (27 August 1998)
https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Nineteen_Eighty-Four
Revision History
No revisions have been submitted for this quote.
Categories
Nineteen Eighty-Four
213 quotes on TrueQuotesView all quotes by Nineteen Eighty-Four →
Related Quotes
"Even when they became discontented, as they sometimes did, their discontent led nowhere, because being without genera…"
"Promiscuity went unpunished, divorce was permitted. For that matter, even religious worship would have been permitted…"
"It was not necessary to know much. So long as they continued to work and breed, their other activities were without i…"
"It was not desirable that the proles should have strong political feelings. All that was required of them was a primi…"
"Until they become conscious they will never rebel, and until after they have rebelled they cannot become conscious."
"The great majority of proles did not even have telescreens in their homes. Even the civil police interfered with them…"
"The Party taught that the proles were natural inferiors who must be kept in subjection, like animals, by the applicat…"
"Rebellion meant a look in the eyes, an inflexion of the voice, at the most, an occasional whispered word. But the pro…"
"A few agents of the Thought Police moved always among them, spreading false rumours and marking down and eliminating …"
"He took out of the drawer a copy of a children's history textbook which he had borrowed from Mrs Parsons, and began c…"