QuoteProject
Doublethink means the power of holding two contradictory beliefs in one's mind simultaneously, and accepting both of them.
George Orwell
ShareWTF𝕏

Interpretation

What this quote means

Doublethink is the ability to believe in contradictory ideas at the same time.

In George Orwell's concept of doublethink, he explores the psychological manipulation of individuals within a totalitarian society, where people are expected to accept two opposing beliefs as truth. This paradoxical mindset is crucial for maintaining loyalty and obedience to authorities, highlighting the complexities of human thought and belief in situations of conflicting ideologies.

Themes

DoublethinkBeliefContradictionThoughtPolitics

In practice

Example use cases

This quote could be used in a discussion about the nature of belief in political ideologies.

More from George Orwell

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
The 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 prescription for endless war poses a far greater danger to Americans than perceived enemies do, for reasons the terrorist organisations understand very well.
Noam ChomskyRead
For knowing is spoken of in three ways: it may be either universal knowledge or knowledge proper to the matter in hand or actualising such knowledge; consequently three kinds of error also are possible.
AristotleRead
He who has calmly reconciled his life to fate, and set proud death beneath his feet, can look fortune in the face, unbending both to good and bad; his countenance unconquered.
BoethiusRead
There was not a single Negro slave owner who did not know dozens of Negroes just as capable of learning and efficiency as the mass of poor white people around and about, and some quite as capable as the average slaveholder. They had continually, in the course of the history of slavery, recognized such men.
W. E. B. Du BoisRead
A thousand policemen directing traffic cannot tell you why you come or where you go.
T. S. EliotRead
The first grave. Now we're getting someplace. Houses and children and graves, that's home, Tom. Those are the things that hold a man down.
John SteinbeckRead

A little wisdom, now and then

Subscribe for the occasional hand-picked quote. No noise.