The essential act of war is destruction, not necessarily of human lives, but of the products of human labor.

In this game that we're playing, we can't win. Some kinds of failure are better than other kinds, that's all.

Does Big Brother exist?" "Of course he exists. The Party exists. Big Brother is the embodiment of the Party." "Does he exist in the same way as I exist?" "You do not exist.

The more intelligent, the less sane

And the bigger the fall, the bigger the joke. It would be better fun to throw a custard pie at a bishop than at a curate.

It was a bright cold day in April, and the clocks were striking thirteen.

Some people have a knack, for example, of being able to tell when someone's lying to them. They may not know what the truth is, but they can tell when someone is trying to lead them astray or sell them something shady. I think he had that ability to an amazing degree. I also think he thought, without saying it explicitly, that you can convince a crowd of something that's not true more easily than you can one person at a time.