By 'nationalism' I mean first of all the habit of assuming that human beings can be classified like insects and that whole blocks of millions and tens of millions of people can be confidently labeled 'good' or 'bad'...By 'patriotism' I mean devotion to a particular place and a particular way of life, which one believes to be best in the world but has no wish to force on other people. Patriotism is of its nature defensive, both militarily and culturally. Nationalism, on the other hand, is inseparable from the desire for power.

That rifle hanging on the wall of the working-class flat or labourer's cottage is the symbol of democracy. It is our job to see that it stays there.

So much of left-wing thought is a kind of playing with fire by people who don't even know that fire is hot.

The war is waged against its own subjects and its object is not the victory...but to keep the very structure of society intact.

If you want to keep a secret, you must also hide it from yourself.

Until they became conscious they will never rebel, and until after they have rebelled they cannot become conscious.

Patriotism has nothing to do with Conservatism. It is actually the opposite of Conservatism, since it is a devotion to something that is always changing and yet is felt to be mystically the same.