If one harbours anywhere in one's mind a nationalistic loyalty or hatred, certain facts, although in a sense known to be true, are inadmissible.
George OrwellRead
He was alone. The past was dead, the future was unimaginable.
Interpretation
What this quote means
This quote reflects on the profound feelings of isolation and the weight of time, where neither the past nor the future offers comfort.
In this quote by George Orwell, the sense of solitude is emphasized through the notion that the past is no longer relevant and the future is filled with uncertainty. It captures the human experience of being present in a moment that feels entirely disconnected from what has come before and what might come next, highlighting the existential weight that can accompany such feelings.
Themes
SolitudeTimeExistentialismUncertaintyIsolation
In practice
Example use cases
This quote can be used in a discussion about mental health and feelings of loneliness.
More from George Orwell
All quotes βThe creatures outside looked from pig to man, and from man to pig, and from pig to man again; but already it was impossible to say which was which.
George OrwellRead
Political writing in our time consists almost entirely of prefabricated phrases bolted together like the pieces of a child's Meccano set. It is the unavoidable result of self-censorship. To write in plain, vigorous language one has to think fearlessly, and if one thinks fearlessly one cannot be politically orthodox.
George OrwellRead
Not to expose your true feelings to an adult seems to be instinctive from the age of seven or eight onwards.
George OrwellRead
As with the Christian religion, the worst advertisement for Socialism is its adherents.
George OrwellRead
It is fatal to look hungry. It makes people want to kick you.
George OrwellRead
Similar quotes
The tendency of the casual mind is to pick out or stumble upon a sample which supports or defies its prejudices, and then to make it the representative of a whole class.
Walter LippmannRead
Buddha's doctrine: Man suffers because of his craving to possess and keep forever things which are essentially impermanent...this frustration of the desire to possess is the immediate cause of suffering.
Alan WattsRead
Every moment is as real as every other. Every 'now,' when you say, 'This is the real moment,' is as real as every other 'now' - and therefore all the moments are just out there. Just as every location in space is out there, I think every moment in time is out there, too.
Brian GreeneRead
...I do not say, Don't play games or cricket and so forth. By all means play and enjoy them, giving thanks to Jesus for them. Only take care that games do not become an idol to you as they did to me. What good will it do to anybody in the next world to have been the best player that ever has been? And then think of the difference between that and winning souls for Jesus.
Charles StuddRead
An election is a moral horror, as bad as a battle except for the blood; a mud bath for every soul concerned in it.
George Bernard ShawRead
Choices, more choices than we like afterward to believe, are made far backward in the innocence of childhood.
Loren EiseleyRead