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Orwellian Quotes

Browse 51 quotes about Orwellian.

Orwellian Quotes

“The Scavenger's Ledger by Stewart Stafford The scratch of a nib on paper Tells me I am alive, I think. At this Heaven/Hell midpoint— A torn throat for a poison drink. The horizon lit up again tonight, Rebels fight for futile freedom, Happiness, a cold, distant stranger, No gifted transfusion to bleed him. Willingly failing the audition of life, Food appears to have lost all taste, A numb tongue or cheap ingredients, I cannot let one crumb go to waste. They’ve finally cured me of love, Stripped every vestige of me away, Carrying my grave upon my back, Their snail slithers from day to day. © 2026, Stewart Stafford. All rights reserved.”

PhilosophyDespairIsolationExistentialismDystopianGothicTotalitarianismContemporary PoetryDark PoetryOrwellian
Author:Stewart Stafford
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“A Malignant State by Stewart Stafford When oozing eyes of paranoia, And the septic ears of hearsay, Vomit hysteria up as atrocity, The mad dog jackal has its day. A demented warden's open prison, Each dwelling house, a divided cell, Community focus now second best, Our loved ones, cats in the wishing well. For your "security," a police state, gifted, Humiliation's fires rage by a dry water spout, A lawfare circus for their spoiler alerts, Truth's spectral vessel a flood of doubt. © 2025, Stewart Stafford. All rights reserved.”

TruthPoetryFearLiesPropagandaControlOrwellianBig BrotherSurveillance StatePolitical Poetry
Author:Stewart Stafford
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“We would do well, as Orwell counselled, to see the traces of the dystopian around us, to find the ends of those threads and how far along we are; the most accurate prophecy being that people, and the allure of domination, never really change. We can Copenhagenise our future cities, make them as green and smart as we can, but provided we are still embedded in systems that reward cronyism, exploitation and short-term profiteering, that require poverty and degradation, it will be mere camouflage. Dystopias will have cycle lanes and host World Cups. What may save us is, in Orwell’s words, a dedication to ‘common decency’ and the perpetual knowledge that it need not be like this.”

HopeHuman NatureExploitationTotalitarianismDystopiaOrwellian
Book:Imaginary Cities
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“What times of faith trial we are all in together...Orwell understood it better then than many do today. Humanitarian unity that is demonstrated in a spirit saturated in love actions, can that transcend seasonal cultures and cross border customs - can become the greater force of all other forces; complicated to measure and beyond human understanding in its beautiful power.”

LoveHumanityForceBeautyPowerOrwellOrwellianForcesDr Tracey Bond
Author:Dr. Tracey Bond
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“None The Wiser by Stewart Stafford A blowtorch in my darkness, Flaming my head with "truth"; Regurgitated received "wisdom", Deviated septums only permitted. Envenomed cobra's indoctrination, Inundated with a fellow brainwashee, Love's verbiage fell side-mouthed; Shaved synapses of smoothed minds. Prematurely convention's captives, Identities wiped and rebooted for propagandist lobotomy, Induced comas—murky déjà vu. Age's heft drags down daily, Her "love" archived as interred lie, Slack-jawed deceit now perceptible, Disillusioned departure companion. © 2026, Stewart Stafford. All rights reserved.”

PhilosophyDarkFamilyPsychologySocietySatireDystopianOrwellianLife CycleStewart Stafford
Author:Stewart Stafford
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“Thou Shalt Kill by Stewart Stafford Today, an official declaration: "The past's forbidden soil is virgin; The present, a thunderous chariot, To glory's gold destiny awaiting us. Go forth and offer up sacrifices!" But the blood we spilt was red, Whichever body it spurted from. Pleas for help, fused into one. Witnesses to death grew jaded. We made the living into the dead, Forged museums of crowded streets, In executioners' hoods at limp dawn. Arising afresh to our deliverance. © Stewart Stafford, 2024. All rights reserved.”

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Author:Stewart Stafford
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“The Almighty Jar by Stewart Stafford Protestors in the street chanted: "Crackpot!" Mocking supreme leader The Almighty Jar, Rattling it into swift and oleaginous action, It flipped its lid and sought vengeance. The jar ordered its troops to open fire, On the defiant yet unarmed crowd, But the army flatly refused to obey, Until the jar started oozing sneakily. Too late came a decree that military personnel, Smear Deindividuation serum on themselves, Freedom fighters stormed the jar's shelf palace, Smashing it and replacing it with an urn. © 2021, Stewart Stafford. All rights reserved.”

Science FictionSatireDictatorshipDystopianTotalitarianismDark HumorSocial CommentaryAbsurdismPolitical SatireOrwellian
Author:Stewart Stafford
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“Rather like "Orwellian", the term "Kafkaesque" has come to be used, often enough by those who have not read a word of Kafka, to describe what are perceived as typically or even uniquely modern traumas: existential alienation, isolation and insecurity, the labyrinth of state bureaucracy, the corrupt or whimsical abuse of totalitarian power, the impenetrable tangle of legal systems, the knock on the door in the middle of the night….”

LifeTotalitarianismOrwellianFranz KafkaKafkaesqueExistential Allienation
Book:The Metamorphosis and Other Stories
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“However, this court is constrained by law, and under the law, I can only conclude that the Government has not violated FOIA by refusing to turn over the documents sought in the FOIA requests, and so cannot be compelled by this court of law to explain in detail the reasons why its actions do not violate the Constitution and the laws of the United States. The Alice-in-Wonderland nature of this pronouncement is not lost on me; but after careful and extensive consideration, I find myself stuck in a paradoxical situation in which I cannot solve a problem because of contradictory constraints and rules—a veritable Catch-22. I can find no way around the thicket of laws and precedents that effectively allow the Executive Branch of our Government to proclaim as perfectly lawful certain actions that seem on their face incompatible with our Constitution and laws, while keeping the reasons for their conclusion a secret.”

LawNational SecuritySurveillanceOrwellianSurveillance SocietyExecutive Powers
Author:Colleen McMahon
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“It is absolutely necessary to their structure that there should be no contact with foreigners except to a limited extent with war prisoners and colored slaves. Even the official ally of the moment is always regarded with a darkest suspicion. War prisoners apart, the average citizen of Oceania never sets eyes on a citizen of either Eurasia or Eastasia and he is forbidden the knowledge of foreign languages. If he were allowed contact with foreigners, he would discover that they are creatures similar to himself and that most of what has been told about them is lies. The sealed world in which he lives would be broken and the fear, hatred and self-righteousness on which his moral depends might evaporate. It is therefore realized on all sides that however often Persia or Egypt or Java or Ceylon may change hands, the main frontiers must never be crossed by anything except bombs.”

HateFearImmigrantsForeigners1984Orwellian
Book:Nineteen Eighty-Four
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“The citizen of Oceania is not allowed to know anything of the tenants of the other two philosophies, but he is taught to execrate them as barbarous, outrageous upon morality and common sense. Actually, the three philosophies are barely distinguishable, and the social systems which they support are not distinguishable at all. Everywhere there is the same pyramidal structure, the same worship or the semi-divine leader, the same economy existing by and for continuous warfare. It follows that three super states not only cannot conquer one another but would gain no advantage by doing so. On the contrary, so long as they remain in conflict they prop one another up like three sheaves of corn, and as usual, the ruling groups of all three powers are simultaneously aware and unaware of what they are doing. Their lives are dedicated to world conquest but they also know that it is necessary that the war should continue everlastingly and without victory.”

WarHateFearImmigrantsForeigners1984Orwellian
Book:Nineteen Eighty-Four
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“(...) ha! what is hope? a butterfly in a box of demons, and nothing escapes the dark untainted, a mockery of politics and greed stamped with treason and dipped in myths and force-fed brainwashing going off after a time for the grand massacre of faith, humanity, and still we search, scorched feet for life but find only fake plastic trees satirical, ludicrous, and ironic”

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Author:Moonshine Noire
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“As I have already said, the belief that one's own view of reality is the only reality is the most dangerous or all delusions. It becomes still more dangerous if it is coupled with the missionary zeal to enlighten the rest of the world, whether the rest of the world wishes to be enlightened or not. To refuse to embrace wholeheartedly a particular definition of reality, to dare to see the world differently can become a "think crime" in a truly Orwellian sense as we get steadily closer to 1984.”

IfsThinkingWorldSaidStillsRealityBeliefWishViewsAtheismDangerousCrimeParticularEmbraceDefinitionsDareRefuseEnlightenedDelusionMissionaryEnlighteningZealWholeheartedlyOrwellianMissionary Zeal
Book:How real is real?: Confusion, disinformation, communication
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“Language matters because whoever controls the words controls the conversation, because whoever controls the conversation controls its outcome, because whoever frames the debate has already won it, because telling the truth has become harder and harder to achieve in an America drowning in Orwellian Newspeak.”

MatterAmericaPoliticsLanguageAchieveConversationHarderDebateOutcomesTelling The TruthDrowningOrwellianAlready Won
Book:Seducing the Demon: Writing for My Life
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“Clearly we must do everything we can to protect our country from the serious potential of another terrorist attack, but we can and must do so in a way that also protects the constitutional rights of the American people and maintains our free society. We can do that without living in an Orwellian world where the government and private corporations know every telephone call that we make, every website we visit, everyplace we go.”

PeopleKnowsWorldWayCountryGovernmentCan DoRightsSeriousProtectTerroristOur CountryCorporationsTelephonesWebsiteFree SocietyNsaTerrorist AttacksConstitutional RightsOrwellianRight To Privacy
Author:Bernie Sanders
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“I believe strongly that we can protect our people without undermining our constitutional rights and I worry very, very much about the huge attacks on privacy that we have seen in recent years - both from the government and the private sector. I worry that we are moving toward an Orwellian society, and this is something I will oppose as vigorously as I can.”

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Author:Bernie Sanders
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“We have entered an Orwellian era in which entitlement replaces responsibility, coercion is described as compassion, compulsory redistribution is called sharing, race quotas substitute for diversity, and suicide is prescribed as 'death with dignity.' Political discourse has become completely corrupted. The reason is that if you tell people directly that you want to raise their taxes, transfer their wealth, count them by skin color, or let doctors kill them, most will object. Statists know this and therefore are obliged to obfuscate.”

PeopleIfsKnowsWantReasonPoliticalPoliticsWealthRaceResponsibilityCompassionObjectsColorTaxesDiversityDignityDoctorsSkinsRaisesSuicideErasSubstitutesDiscourseObligedCoercionEntitlementTransfersCompulsorySkin ColorQuotaOrwellianPolitical DiscourseDeath With Dignity
Author:Theodore J. Forstmann
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“This is not some alarmist Orwellian scenario; it is here, now, financed by $20 billion last year and $15 billion more this year of federal money appropriated out of sheer fear. By creating the means to monitor 300 million visits to the United States yearly, this administration and a supine opposition are building a system capable of identifying, tracking and spying on 300 million Americans.”

YearsMeanStatesLastsUnitedMillionsUnited StatesBuildingCreatingCapableBillionsAdministrationOppositionLast YearSheerScenariosIdentifyingTrackingOrwellianAlarmists
Author:William Safire
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“There is a concern that the Internet could be used to commit crimes and that advanced encryption could disguise such activity. However, we do not provide the government with phone jacks outside our homes for unlimited wiretaps. Why, then, should we grant government the Orwellian capability to listen at will and in real time to our communications across the Web?”

ShouldRealHomeGovernmentUsedCrimeCommunicationInternetActivityConcernPhonesCommitGrantsCapabilityDisguiseUnlimitedEncryptionOrwellian
Author:John Ashcroft
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“Only in an Orwellian [Barack] Obama world full of sprinkly fairy dust broken from atop his unicorn as he's peeking through a really pretty pink kaleidoscope would he ever see victory or safety for America or Israel in this treaty. This treaty will not bring peace. You don't reward terrorism. You kill it!”

WorldAmericaBrokenVictorySafetyRewardsIsraelTerrorismDustBarackFairyTreatiesUnicornKaleidoscopeOrwellianReally PrettyPeekingFairy Dust
Author:Sarah Palin
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“Donald Trump is sort of an Orwellian figure, an authoritarian figure who is twisting words in an Orwellian manner, "1984," to exercise power and control people's minds, or is he a 5-year-old who has an ego that needs to be fed, and the universe has to warp around his ego needs so he can feel good about himself, and everybody has to produce photos to make the monarch feel like he's made of gold.”

PeopleNeedsFeelsYearsMindMadeUniverseFiguresProduceTrumpExerciseEgoGoldFeel GoodFedsMonarchsWarpPower And ControlOrwellian
Author:David Brooks
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“Once again, the puppets on Capitol Hill are about to slam the Muppets on Main Street. The country still hasn't recovered from the Wall Street-induced financial cataclysm of 2008, yet Congress is preparing to enact the Orwellian 'JOBS Act' - a bill that should in fact be called the 'Return Fraud to Wall Street in One Easy Step Act.'”

ShouldStillsCountryFactsJobsEasyStepsStreetsWallReturnBillsFinancialCongressHillsFraudPreparingPuppetsSlamCapitolMain StreetMuppetOrwellianCapitol Hill
Author:Eliot Spitzer
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“There's a grosser irony about Politically Correct English. This is that PCE purports to be the dialect of progressive reform but is in fact - in its Orwellian substitution of the euphemisms of social equality for social equality itself - of vastly more help to conservatives and the US status quo than traditional SNOOT prescriptions ever were.”

FactsHelpingSocialTraditionalReformIronyProgressiveStatus QuoPolitical CorrectnessPrescriptionsPolitically CorrectDialectEuphemismSubstitutionOrwellianSocial Equality
Author:David Foster Wallace
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“Not to know one's true identity is to be a mad, disensouled thing — a golem. And, indeed, this image, sick-eningly Orwellian, applies to the mass of human beings now living in the high-tech industrial democracies. Their authenticity lies in their ability to obey and follow mass style changes that are conveyed through the media. Immersed in junk food, trash media, and cryp-tofascist politics, they are condemned to toxic lives of low awareness. Sedated by the prescripted daily television fix, they are a living dead, lost to all but the act of consuming.”

KnowsHumansLyingLostHuman BeingsAbilityDemocracyAwarenessMediaStyleIdentityTelevisionMassLowsSickMadAuthenticityToxicTrashConsumingJunkJunk FoodOrwellianTrue Identity
Author:Terence McKenna
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“As I have stood in the crosshairs of those who target Second Amendment freedoms, I've realized that firearms are not the only issue. No, it's much, much bigger than that. I've come to understand that a cultural war is raging across our land, in which, with Orwellian fervor, certain acceptable thoughts and speech are mandated.”

WarCertainPoliticsIssuesLandSpeechGunBiggerRageTargetAcceptableAmendmentsGun ControlSecond AmendmentFirearmsFervorOrwellian
Author:Charlton Heston
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“Taking privacy cues from the federal government is - to say the least - ironic, considering today's Orwellian level of surveillance. At virtually any given time outside of one's own home, an American citizen can reasonably assume his movements and actions are being monitored by something, by somebody, somewhere.”

HomeGovernmentTodayActionGivenLevelsSecurityMovementCitizensAssumingPrivacyIronicConsideringFederal GovernmentSurveillanceAmerican CitizensOrwellian
Author:Bob Barr
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“...testifying for Dr. Privitera...To these 19 cancer victims, the enforcement of (California) Health and Safety Code Sect. 1701.1, the denial of them medical treatment, albeit unorthodox, albeit unapproved by a state agency, must surely take on a Kafka-esque, a nightmare quality. No demonstrated public anger, no compelling interest of the state warrants an Orwellian intrusion into the most private of zones of privacy.”

StatesAgeInterestDarkQualitySafetyVictimCancerMedicalDenialCodeCaliforniaAgencyPrivacyZoneTreatmentNightmareCompellingDrsEnforcementDark AgesSectsWarrantsIntrusionMedical TreatmentUnorthodoxOrwellianHealth And SafetyTestifyingCancer Victim
Author:Rose Bird
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“The ...experts of the FDA have declared Laetrile to be worthless...quackery and fraud...These experts are the professional descendants of experts...confident that mental illness should be cured by drilling holes in the skull, the better to let the demons out. ...This is the Orwellian fashion in which the medical establishment throws its weight around.”

ShouldAgeDarkFashionWeightIllnessMedicalHolesMental IllnessExpertsDemonFraudEstablishmentWorthlessDark AgesSkullsDescendantsFdaDrillingOrwellianQuackery
Author:James J. Kilpatrick
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