George Orwell Quotes

As soon as fear, hatred, jealousy and power worship are involved, the sense of reality becomes unhinged. And ... the sense of right and wrong becomes unhinged also. There is no crime, absolutely none, that cannot be condoned when ‘our’ side commits it. Even if one does not deny that the crime has happened, even if one knows that it is exactly the same crime as one has condemned in some other case, even if one admits in an intellectual sense that it is unjustified — still one cannot feel that it is wrong. Loyalty is involved, and so pity ceases to function.

These antipatriotic prejudices are the abortions of folly impregnated by faction.

The habit of an opinion often leads to the complete conviction of its truth, it hides the weaker parts of it, and makes us incapable of accepting the proofs against it.

Partisanship shapes the reality that people choose to see.

Partisanship is culture. Loyalty to the team takes precedence over loyalty to the truth.

The less justified a man is in claiming excellence for his own self, the more ready he is to claim all excellence for his nation, his religion, his race or his holy cause.

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.

We think very few people sensible, except those who are of our opinion.

All nations are more tolerant of their own mistakes and weaknesses than of the mistakes and weaknesses of others.

One thing about liberals: It doesn't even occur to them that there is another side to an argument. They are so convinced of the righteousness of their own position that it doesn't dawn on them that a reasonable person might have a different viewpoint.

A man is his own easiest dupe, for what he wishes to be true he generally believes to be true.

You can always spot a well informed man - his views are the same as yours.

There's only one side with me. You get the right side. You get the correct version of the facts.

I mistrust the judgment of every man in a case in which his own wishes are concerned.

There is a holy mistaken zeal in politics as religion. By persuading others, we convince ourselves.

Rationalization may be defined as self-deception by reasoning.

Imagination … which is ever wandering beyond the bounds of truth, joined to self-love and that self-confidence we are so apt to indulge, prompt us to draw conclusions that are not immediately derived from facts ...

Humans naturally think more highly of themselves and their communities than their evidence can justify, but deny that they are biased in this way. This sincere confidence helps people to convince others to think highly of them, and to convince their group of their strong attachment to it. If you force yourself to face facts squarely you may gain better insight into yourself and human nature, and perhaps even signal a certain rare ability to achieve this result. But you may less convince others of your other abilities, and to convince your group of your loyalty

Some people choose not to believe the truth because it disagrees with what they fundamentally want.

My country, right or wrong," is a thing that no patriot would think of saying, except in a desperate case. It is like saying, "My mother, drunk or sober.

Nothing is easier than self-deceit, since what each man wishes, that he also believes to be true.

Found your opinions on facts, not prejudices. We know too many things that are not true

Tribalism is the most powerful force in the world.

Politics has become a little like football. We cheer for our favorite team no matter how well they are playing.

By "nationalism" I mean the habit of identifying oneself with a single nation or other unit, placing it beyond good and evil and recognising no other duty than that of advancing its interests.