Thread: Quotes for our time.

Some of my faves from George Orwell:


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

If liberty means anything at all, it means the right to tell people what they do not want to hear.

All political thinking for years past has been vitiated in the same way. People can foresee the future only when it coincides with their own wishes, and the most grossly obvious facts can be ignored when they are unwelcome.

For a creative writer possession of the "truth" is less important than emotional sincerity.

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

The great enemy of clear language is insincerity. When there is a gap between one's real and one's declared aims, one turns, as it were, instinctively to long words and exhausted idioms, like a cuttlefish squirting out ink.

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

Each generation imagines itself to be more intelligent than the one that went before it, and wiser than the one that comes after it.

Many people genuinely do not want to be saints, and it is probable that some who achieve or aspire to sainthood have never felt much temptation to be human beings.

No advance in wealth, no softening of manners, no reform or [Mod Edit] has ever brought human equality a millimeter nearer.

Sometimes the first duty of intelligent men is the restatement of the obvious.

The very concept of objective truth is fading out of the world. Lies will pass into history.

There are some ideas so wrong that only a very intelligent person could believe in them.

Who controls the past controls the future. Who controls the present controls the past.

War is peace. Freedom is slavery. Ignorance is strength.

Originally Posted by PhredE

americangirl:

You quoted [the late, great] Frank Zappa
The quote is serious (and good). But I'm so surprised to see a Frank Z quote by anyone, anywhere on here! Cool - Too darn funny! RFLMAO
Here's some lyrics from a Frank Zappa song which has always stuck with me - I think it says a lot about DC, politicians, our corrupt government
( in a lighter, but similar vein as the quote above):

You say yer life's a bum deal, 'n yer up against the wall...
Well, people, you ain't even got no deal at all

'Cause what they do in Washington
They just takes care of NUMBER ONE

An' NUMBER ONE ain't YOU!
You ain't even NUMBER TWO

The rhymes and phrases work so very well to convey the intended meaning! (IMHO)

I'm glad you got a kick out of my quote, Phred.

americangirl - yeah, you just made my day!

Originally Posted by PhredE

americangirl - yeah, you just made my day!