Poems List

TO LIVE IS THE RAREST THING IN THE WORLD. MOST PEOPLE EXIST, THAT IS ALL.
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The quickest way of ending a war is to lose it.

in Polemic May 1946 ‘Second Thoughts on James Burnham’

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At 50, everyone has the face he deserves.

last words in his notebook, 17 April 1949

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Saints should always be judged guilty until they are proved innocent.

Shooting an Elephant (1950) ‘Reflections on Gandhi’

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

in Horizon September 1941 ‘The Art of Donald McGill’

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In our time, political speech and writing are largely the defence of the indefensible.

Shooting an Elephant (1950) ‘Politics and the English Language’

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Political language … is designed to make lies sound truthful and murder respectable, and to give an appearance of solidity to pure wind.

Shooting an Elephant (1950) ‘Politics and the English Language’

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Serious sport … is war minus the shooting.

Shooting an Elephant (1950) ‘I Write as I Please’

2

If you want a picture of the future, imagine a boot stamping on a human face—for ever.

Nineteen Eighty-Four (1949) pt. 3, ch. 3

2

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

Nineteen Eighty-Four (1949) pt. 2, ch. 9

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Eric Arthur Blair, known by the pseudonym George Orwell, was born in Motihari, British India. He studied at Eton College and, after completing his studies, enlisted in the Indian Imperial Police, serving in Burma. This experience, as well as his life as a worker in Paris and Barcelona, profoundly influenced his views on imperialism and oppression. During the Spanish Civil War, he fought alongside the Republic against Franco's forces, where he was wounded. This experience contributed to his aversion to authoritarian and totalitarian regimes. His novels "Animal Farm" (1945) and "1984" (1949) are political allegories that criticize Stalinism and the dangers of totalitarianism, respectively. "1984", in particular, with its concept of "Big Brother" and "Newspeak", became a landmark in dystopian fiction and influenced popular culture and political thought. Orwell was also a prolific essayist, addressing themes such as literature, politics, and language in works such as "The Lion and the Unicorn" and "Politics and the English Language". He died in London, victim of tuberculosis, in 1950.