Top 5 1984 quotes
“Big Brother Is Watching You.”
- Book 1, Chapter 1
This is certainly one of the famous quotes from the book and is often used in the modern context to warn people about the surveillance of the government. In 1984, the world is filled with large posters that remind the citizens that they are constantly being watched, to ensure that they do not think about breaking the rules set forward by the government. Party workers like Winston Smith are not allowed a moment’s private reprieve as even their homes are surveilled through the use of gadgets like the Telescreen.
“Who controls the past controls the future; who controls the present controls the past.”
- Winston Smith, Book 1, Chapter 3
Winston works in the department of records for the ministry of Truth, and he has a realization about the true nature of his job. Winston understands that his work in altering the past to align with the things that had been said by Big Brother was an effective means of controlling the future and perpetuating the rule of the Party indefinitely.
“Freedom is the freedom to say that two plus two make four.”
- Winston Smith, Book 1, Chapter 7
Winston soon begins to realize that he can use his memory, intelligence, and reasoning to understand the world rather than relying on the narrative that is supplied by the Party. The readers learn that the Party is attempting to control and limit the very consciousness of people’s minds, but Winston eventually comes to realize that true freedom lies within his head rather than his physical condition.
“Reality exists in the human mind, and nowhere else.”
- O’Brien, Book 3, Chapter 2
In the final section of the book, we learn that the Party is not interested in killing off the rebels but is rather focussed on converting them. O’Brien exposes Winston to excruciating pain, as he attempts to convert the reality that exists in Winston’s mind. He exemplifies this by explaining to Winston that he could have the ability of flight if he could Winston and everyone else that O’Brien did indeed have the capacity for flight.
“Power is not a means; it is an end.”
- O’Brien, Book 3, Chapter 3
At the end of the book, Winston finally learns the true answer to the question that he had been asking himself since the beginning of the book. He had come to understand how the Party was perpetuating its power indefinitely but he could not understand their end goal. O’Brien supplies the answer, as he angrily tells Winston that the Party cares nothing for the people and that it remains in power for its own sake.
