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

The nationalist not only does not disapprove of atrocities committed by his own side, but he has a remarkable capacity for not even hearing about them.

Think of something you really care about. Then add hour to hour and calculate the fraction of your life that you've actually spent in doing it. And then calculate the time you've spent on things like shaving, riding to and fro on buses, waiting in railway junctions, swapping dirty stories, and reading the newspapers.

The Catholic and the Communist are alike in assuming that an opponent cannot be both honest and intelligent.

Your worst enemy, he reflected, was your nervous system. At any moment the tension inside you was liable to translate itself into some visible symptom.

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

The more men you've had, the more I love you.