Best 76 quotes in «1984 quotes» category

About some books we feel that our reluctance to return to them is the true measure of our admiration. It is hard to suppose that many people go back, from a spontaneous desire, to reread 1984: there is neither reason nor need to, no one forgets it. The usual distinctions between forgotten details and a vivid general impression mean nothing here, for the book is written out of one passionate breath, each word is bent to a severe discipline of meaning, everything is stripped to the bareness of terror. Kafka's The Trial is also a book of terror, but it is a paradigm and to some extent a puzzle, so that one may lose oneself in the rhythm of the paradigm and play with the parts of the puzzle. Kafka's novel persuades us that life is inescapably hazardous and problematic, but the very 'universality' of this idea helps soften its impact: to apprehend the terrible on the plane of metaphysics is to lend it an almost soothing aura.

After all, what justification is there for a word which is simply the opposite of some other word? A word contains its opposite in itself. Take ‘good’, for instance. If you have a word like ‘good’, what need is there for a word like ‘bad’? ‘Ungood’ will do just as well—better, because it’s an exact opposite, which the other is not. Or again, if you want a stronger version of ‘good’, what sense is there in having a whole string of vague useless words like ‘excellent’ and ‘splendid’ and all the rest of them? ‘Plusgood’ covers the meaning, or ‘doubleplusgood’ if you want something stronger still" (51).

Always in your stomach and in your skin there was a sort of protest, a feeling that you had been cheated of something you had a right to.

Antipatične su mi bile gotovo sve žene, a osobito mlade i zgodne. Uvijek su žene, a iznad svega mlađe žene, bile najzadrtije pristaše Partije, najlakše su gutale servirane parole, bile su dobrovoljne doušnice i prokazivačice krivovjerja.

Anything could be true. The so-called laws of Nature were nonsense. The law of gravity was nonsense. 'If I wished,' O'Brien had said, 'I could float off this floor like a soap bubble.' Winston worked it out. 'If he thinks he floats off the floor, and if I simultaneously think I see him do it, then the thing happens.' Suddenly, like a lump of submerged wreckage breaking the surface of water, the thought burst into his mind: 'It doesn't really happen. We imagine it. It is hallucination.' He pushed the thought under instantly. The fallacy was obvious. It presupposed that somewhere or other, outside oneself, there was a 'real' world where 'real' things happened. But how could there be such a world? What knowledge have we of anything, save through our own minds? All happenings are in the mind. Whatever happens in all minds, truly happens. He had no difficulty in disposing of the fallacy, and he was in no danger of succumbing to it. He realized, nevertheless, that it ought never to have occurred to him. The mind should develop a blind spot whenever a dangerous thought presented itself. The process should be automatic, instinctive. Crimestop, they called it in Newspeak. He set to work to exercise himself in crimestop. He presented himself with propositions -- 'the Party says the earth is flat', 'the party says that ice is heavier than water' -- and trained himself in not seeing or not understanding the arguments that contradicted them. It was not easy. It needed great powers of reasoning and improvisation. The arithmetical problems raised, for instance, by such a statement as 'two and two make five' were beyond his intellectual grasp. It needed also a sort of athleticism of mind, an ability at one moment to make the most delicate use of logic and at the next to be unconscious of the crudest logical errors. Stupidity was as necessary as intelligence, and as difficult to attain.

Al final, el Partido anunciaría que dos y dos son cinco y habría que creerlo.

Anything that hinted at corruption always filled him with a wild hope

Al futuro o al pasado, a un tiempo en el que el pensamiento sea libre, en el que los hombres sean diferentes unos de otros y no vivan solos… a un tiempo en el que la verdad exista y lo que se haga no se pueda deshacer. Desde la época de la uniformidad, desde la época de la soledad, desde la época del Hermano Mayor, desde la época del doplepiensa … ¡saludos!

As he looked at the woman in her characteristic attitude, her thick arms reaching up for the line, her powerful marelike buttocks protruded, it struck him for the first time that she was beautiful. It had never before occurred to him that the body of a woman of fifty, blown up to monstrous dimensions by childbearing, then hardened, roughened by work till it was coarse in the grain like an overriped turnip, could be beautiful. But it was so, and after all, he thought, why not? The solid, contourless body, like a block of granite, and the rasping red skin, bore the same relation to the body of a girl as the rose-hip to the rose. Why should the fruit be held inferior to the flower?

Como ya lo había hecho en muchas ocasiones, se preguntó si él no estaría loco. Tal vez loco era solamente una "minoría de uno" (...) Sin embargo, no le afectaba mucho la idea de ser un loco. Lo que le aterraba era la posibilidad de estar errado.

But when war becomes literally continuous , it also ceases to be dangerous. When war is continuous there is no such thing as military necessity. Technical progress can cease and the most palpable facts can be denied or disregarded.

Cory Doctorow hat dieses Werk unter der Creative-Commons-Lizenz(CC-BY-NC-SA) veröffentlicht die es jedermann erlaubt, das Werk frei zu verbreiten und zu bearbeiten ... (siehe wikipedia "little brother", dort auch Links zu den ebooks der Übersetzung) Unter Nutzung dieser Lizenz hat Christian Wöhrl eine deutsche Übersetzung des Romans angefertigt. Aus dieser ist ein Fanhörbuchprojekt entstanden. ... hier meine Zitate aus Readmill: Ich hatte also grade 10 Sekunden auf dreitausend Rechnern gemietet und jeden einzelnen angewiesen, eine SMS oder einen VoIP-Anruf an Charles' Handy abzusetzen; dessen Nummer hatte ich mal während einer dieser verhängnisvollen Bürositzungen bei Benson von einem Post-it abgelesen. Muss ich erwähnen, dass Charles' Telefon nicht in der Lage war, damit umzugehen? Zuerst ließen die SMS den Gerätespeicher überlaufen, sodass das Handy nicht mal mehr seine Routinen ausführen konnte, etwa das Klingeln zu koordinieren und die gefälschten Rufnummern der eingehenden Anrufe aufzuzeichnen. (Wusstet ihr, dass es völlig simpel ist, die Rückrufnummer einer Anruferkennung zu faken? Dafür gibts ungefähr 50 verschiedene Möglichkeiten - einfach mal "Anrufer-ID fälschen" googeln...) Charles starrte sein Telefon fassungslos an und hackte auf ihm herum, die wulstigen Augenbrauen regelrecht verknotet ob der Anstrengung, dieser Dämonen Herr zu werden, die das persönlichste seiner Geräte in Besitz genommen hatten. Sekunden später kackte Charles' Handy spektakulär ab. Zehntausende von zufälligen Anrufen und SMS liefen parallel bei ihm auf, sämtliche Warn- und Klingeltöne meldeten sich gleichzeitig und dann wieder und wieder. Den Angriff hatte ich mithilfe eines Botnetzes bewerkstelligt, was mir einerseits ein schlechtes Gewissen bereitete; aber andererseits war es ja im Dienst einer guten Sache. In Botnetzen fristen infizierte Rechner ihr untotes Dasein. Wenn du dir einen Wurm oder Virus fängst, sendet dein Rechner eine Botschaft an einen Chat-Kanal im IRC, dem Internet Relay Chat. Diese Botschaft zeigt dem Botmaster, also dem Typen, der den Wurm freigesetzt hat, dass da Computer sind, die auf seinen Befehl warten. Botnetze sind enorm mächtig, da sie aus Tausenden, manchmal Hunderttausenden von Rechnern bestehen, die über das ganze Internet verteilt sind, meist über Breitbandleitungen verbunden sind und auf schnelle Heim-PCs Das Buch passte grade so in die Mikrowelle, die sogar noch unappetitlicher aussah als beim letzten Mal, als ich sie brauchte. Ich wickelte das Buch penibel in Papiertücher, bevor ich es reinsteckte. "Mann, Lehrer sind Schweine", zischelte ich. Darryl, bleich und angespannt, erwiderte nichts. Dann packte ich das primäre Arbeitsgerät unserer Schule wieder aus und wählte den Klassenzimmer-Modus. Die SchulBooks waren die verräterischsten Geräte von allen - zeichneten jede Eingabe auf, kontrollierten den Netzwerkverkehr auf verdächtige Eingaben, zählten alle Klicks, zeichneten jeden flüchtigen Gedanken auf, den du übers Netz verbreitetest. Wir hatten sie in meinem ersten Jahr hier bekommen, und es hatte bloß ein paar Monate gedauert, bis der Reiz dieser Dinger verflogen war. Sobald die Leute merkten, dass diese "kostenlosen" Laptops in Wirklichkeit für die da oben arbeiteten (und im Übrigen mit massenhaft nerviger Werbung verseucht waren), fühlten die Kisten sich plötzlich sehr, sehr schwer an. Mein SchulBook zu cracken war simpel gewesen. Der Crack war binnen eines Monats nach Einführung der Maschine online zu finden, und es war eine billige Nummer - bloß ein DVD-Image runterladen, brennen, ins SchulBook stecken und die Kiste hochfahren, während man ein paar Tasten gleichzeitig gedrückt hielt. Die DVD erledigte den Rest und installierte etliche versteckte Programme auf dem Laptop, die von den täglichen Fernprüfungs-Routinen der Schulleitung nicht gefunden werden konnten.

Electronic mail systems can, if used by many people, cause severe information overload problems. The cause of this problem is that it is so easy to send a message to a large number of people, and that systems are often designed to give the sender too much control of the communication process, and the receiver too little control…. People get too many messages, which they do not have time to read. This also means that the really important messages are difficult to find in the large flow of less important messages. In the future, when we get larger and larger message systems, and these systems get more and more interconnected, this will be a problem for almost all users of these systems.

El poder se basa en inflingir dolor y humillación. El poder consiste en hacer pedazos el espíritu humano y darle la forma que elijamos.

El pa­sa­do había sido bo­rra­do, se había ol­vi­da­do que había sido bo­rra­do y de ese modo la men­ti­ra se con­ver­tía en ver­dad

Bản chất của chiến tranh là tiêu diệt, không nhất thiết phải là con người, mà là sản phẩm do con người tạo ra.

Day by day and almost minute by minute the past was brought up to date.

Él pensó que esto era verdad. Entre la castidad y la ortodoxia política existía una conexión directa. ¿Cómo se iban a mantener el odio, el miedo y la incredulidad insensata que requería el Partido si algún instinto poderoso no se embotellaba para utilizarlo después como combustible? Para el Partido el instinto sexual era muy peligroso, y lo había usado en beneficio propio. Hacieron lo mismo con el instinto familiar.

(...) El libro le encantaba o, para ser más exacto, lo serenaba. En cierto modo, no le enseñaba absolutamente nada nuevo, pero precisamente esto formaba parte de su encanto. Sólo decía lo que el mismo Winston podía haber dicho, si le hubiera sido posible ordenar sus propias ideas y darles una expresión clara. Este libro era el producto de unos pensamientos parecidos a los suyos, pero mucho más poderosos, más sistemáticos y libres de miedos. Winston pensó que los mejores libros son aquellos que nos dicen lo que ya nosotros sabemos (...)

En cierto sentido, la visión del mundo que tenía el Partido se imponía con éxito a gente incapaz de entenderla. Se les podía convencer de que aceptaran las más flagrantes violaciones de la realidad, porque nunca llegaban a entender del todo la enormidad de lo que se les pedía, y no estaban lo bastante interesados en los acontecimientos públicos para reparar en lo que ocurría. Su falta de comprensión les permitía conservar la cordura. Se limitaban a tragárselo todo y nunca se les indigestaba porque lo que tragaban no dejaba ningún residuo, igual que un grano de trigo puede pasar por el cuerpo de un pájaro sin ser digerido.

Esa era la mayor sutileza: inducir conscientemente a la inconsciencia, y luego, una vez más, volverse inconsciente del acto de hipnosis que acababas de realizar. Incluso la comprensión del término doblepiensa , implicaba el uso del doblepiensa

Formar parte de la minoría, aunque fuese una minoría de uno solo, no te convertía en loco. Había la verdad y la mentira, y aferrarse a la verdad, aunque fuese en contra del mundo entero, no era sinónimo de estar loco.

Esa era la mayor sutileza: inducir conscientemente a la inconsciencia, y luego, una vez más, volverse inconsciente del acto de hipnosis que acababas de realizar. Incluso la comprensión del término , implicaba el uso del doblepiensa.

Es que lo peor del mundo -siguió O'Brien- va a variar de persona a persona. Es probable que le entierren vivo o morir ahogado, o quemado o de muchas otras formas. En ocaciones se trata de algo sin importancia, que ni siquiera es mortal, pero que para la persona es lo peor de del mundo.

Every record has been destroyed or falsified, every book rewritten, every picture has been repainted, every statue and street building has been renamed, every date has been altered. And the process is continuing day by day and minute by minute. History has stopped. Nothing exists except an endless present in which the Party is always right.

For whom, it suddenly occured to him to wonder, was he writing this diary? For the future, for the unborn.

(...) Hacía que se aceptaran las violaciones más flagrantes de la realidad porque ninguna persona comprendía completamente la enormidad de lo que se les exigía ni se interesaba bastante por los acontecimientos públicos para darse cuenta de lo que sucedía. Todos eran políticamente sanos y fieles por falta de comprensión (..)

Déjà vu Orwell's 1984

Heavy physical work, the care of home and children, petty quarrels with neighbors, films, football, beer, and above all, gambling filled up the horizon of their minds. To keep them in control was not difficult…. All that was required of them was a primitive patriotism which could be appealed to whenever it was necessary to make them accept longer working hours or shorter rations. And when they became discontented, as they sometimes did, their discontentment led nowhere, because being without general ideas, they could only focus it on petty specific grievances.

If the Party could thrust its had into the past and say of this or that event, it never happened-that, surely, was more terrifying than mere torture or death.

If the Party could thrust its hand into the past and say of this or that event, it never happened—that, surely, was more terrifying than mere torture and death?...But where did that knowledge exist? Only in his consciousness, which in any case must soon be annihilated...'Who controls the past,' ran the Party slogan,'controls the future:who controls the present controls the past.'...All that was needed was a series of victories over your own memory.

Hasta que no tengan conciencia de su fuerza, no se rebelarán, y hasta después de haberse rebelado, no serán conscientes. Éste es el problema.

İktidar bir araç değil, bir amaçtır. Kimse devrimi korumak için diktatörlük kurmaz; diktatörlük kurmak için devrim yapar. Zulmün amacı zulümdür. İşkencenin amacı işkencedir. İktidarın amacı iktidardır.

If there is any hope, it lies in the proles

I'm not interested in the next generation, dear. I'm interested in us.' - Julia

it was an act of self-hypnosis, a deliberate drowning of consciousness by means of rhythmic noise.

Los mejores libros, comprendió, son los que te cuentan lo que ya sabías

Maskinerna hjälpte kroppen med det som musklerna inte orkade med eller hann med under industrialismen. Elektroniken hjälper oss med det som hjärnan inte klarar av eller hinner med i "informationssamhället". Men en enligt många kallhamrad teknologi kommer att öka behovet av gemenskap och värme. […] Behovet av en ny kroppslig kontakt, själslig ro, mänskligt prat kommer att öka lavinartat, när vi pratar med hemdatorn istället för att gå till banken eller ringa, spelar videospel istället för att gå på rockkonsert osv.

It was not desirable that the proles should have strong political feelings. All that was required of the was a primitive patriotism which could be appealed to whenever it was necessary to make them accept longer working hours or shorter rations. And even when they became discontented, as they sometimes did, their discontent led nowhere, because, being without general ideas, they could only focus it on petty specific grievances. The larger evils invariably escaped their notice.

Ništa nije tvoje vlastito osim nekoliko kubičnih centimetara u tvojoj lubanji.

No me estoy refiriendo a la confesión. Cuando se confiesa no se traiciona. Lo que importa son los sentimientos, no lo que digas o hagas. La verdadera traición sería si me pueden obligar a dejar de amarte...

No se van a rebelar hasta que no tengan plena consciencia de su fuerza, y no serán conscientes hasta después de haberse rebelado. Esta es la dificultad.

Num mundo no qual todos trabalhassem pouco, tivessem o alimento necessário, vivessem numa casa com banheiro e refrigerador e possuíssem carro ou até avião, a forma mais óbvia e talvez mais importante de desigualdade já teria desaparecido. Desde o momento em que se tornasse geral, a riqueza perderia seu caráter distintivo. Claro, era possível imaginar uma sociedade na qual a riqueza, no sentido de bens e luxos pessoais, fosse distribuída equitativamente, enquanto o poder permanecia nas mãos de uma pequena casta privilegiada. Na prática, porém, uma sociedade desse tipo não poderia permanecer estável por muito tempo. Porque se lazer e segurança fossem desfrutados por todos igualmente, a grande massa de seres humanos que costuma ser embrutecida pela pobreza se alfabetizaria e aprenderia a pensar por si; e depois que isso acontecesse, mais cedo ou mais tarde essa massa se daria conta de que a minoria privilegiada não tinha função nenhuma e acabaria com ela. A longo termo, uma sociedade hierárquica só era possível num mundo de pobreza e ignorância.

Of course he chanted with the rest: it was impossible to do otherwise. To dissemble your feelings, to control your face, to do what everyone else was doing, was an instinctive reaction.

One of these days, thought Winston with sudden deep conviction, Syme will be vaporized. He is too intelligent. He sees too clearly and speaks too plainly. The Party does not like such people. One day he will disappear. It is written in his face.

Orwell's vision of our terrible future was that world-- the world in which books are banned or burned. Yet it is not the most terrifying world I can think of. I think instead of Huxley-- ...I think of his Brave New World. His vision was the more terrible, especially because now it appears to be rapidly coming true, whereas the world of 1984 did not. What's Huxley's horrific vision? It is a world where there is no need for books to be banned, because no one can be bothered to read one.

Outside, even through the shut window-pane, the world looked cold.

It's intellectual freedom when a journalist can understand that 2 + 2 = 4; that's what Orwell was writing about in 1984. Everybody here applauds that book, but nobody is willing to think about what it means. What Winston Smith [the main character] was saying is, if we can still understand that 2 + 2 = 4, they haven't taken everything away. Okay? Well, in the United States, people can't even understand that 2 + 2 = 4.

Nothing exists except through human consciousness

No van a poder crear un mundo como el que describiste. Eso es un imposible, un sueño (...) No es posible fundar una civilización sobre la crueldad, el temor y el odio. No subsistiría (...) Se desintegraría, se suicidaría. No tendría vitalidad (...) No sé, no me interesa. De una manera u otra, van a fracasar. Algo los va a derrotar. La vida los va derrotar.