Envy is a horrible thing. It is unlike all other kinds of suffering in that there is no disguising it, no elevating it into tragedy. It is more than merely painful, it is disgusting.

And if all others accepted the lie which the Party imposed—if all records told the same tale—then the lie passed into history and became truth. 'Who controls the past' ran the Party slogan, 'controls the future: who controls the present controls the past.

If you set yourself to it, you can live the same life, rich or poor. You can keep on with your books and your ideas. You just got to say to yourself, "I'm a free man in here" - he tapped his forehead - "and you're all right.

Thoughtcrime does not entail death: thoughtcrime IS death.

It is one of the tragedies of the half-educated that they develop late, when they are already committed to some wrong way of life.

Never use a long word where a short one will do.

A peace that was truly permanent would be the same as a permanent war.