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
It is a mysterious thing, the loss of faith—as mysterious as faith itself.
Interpretation
The loss of faith is as enigmatic and profound as faith itself, highlighting the complexity of belief.
In this quote, George Orwell emphasizes the enigmatic nature of both faith and its absence. He suggests that just as faith can be a deeply personal and often unfathomable experience, so too is the experience of losing that faith. This reflection prompts us to consider the profound emotional and philosophical implications that come with belief and its disappearance, which can impact individuals in unique and complex ways.
In practice
During a speech about overcoming personal challenges, one might use this quote to illustrate the complexity of faith.
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.
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.
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.
Not to expose your true feelings to an adult seems to be instinctive from the age of seven or eight onwards.
As with the Christian religion, the worst advertisement for Socialism is its adherents.
It is fatal to look hungry. It makes people want to kick you.
To think and to be fully alive are the same.
That’s the thing about a human life-there’s no control group, no way to ever know how any of us would have turned out if any variables had been changed.
The Conspiracy Theory of Society... [is] a typical result of the secularization of a religious superstition. The belief in the Homeric gods whose conspiracies explain the history of the Trojan War is gone. The gods are abandoned. But their place is filled by powerful men or groups - sinister pressure groups whose wickedness is responsible for all the evils we suffer from - such as the Learned Elders of Zion, or the monopolists, or the capitalists, or the imperialists.
Disregard the study of God, and you sentence yourself to stumble and blunder through life blindfolded.
I want to know all Gods thoughts; all the rest are just details.
To live alone is the fate of all great souls.
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