Quotations

But we had forgotten that alongside Orwell’s dark vision, there was another—slightly older, slightly less well known, equally chilling: Aldous Huxley’s Brave New World. Contrary to common belief even among the educated, Huxley and Orwell did not prophesy the same thing. Orwell warns that we will be overcome by an externally imposed oppression. But in Huxley’s vision, no Big Brother is required to deprive people of their autonomy, maturity and history. As he saw it, people will come to love their oppression, to adore the technologies that undo their capacities to think.

What Orwell feared were those who would ban books. What Huxley feared was that there would be no reason to ban a book, for there would be no one who wanted to read one. Orwell feared those who would deprive us of information. Huxley feared those who would give us so much that we would be reduced to passivity and egoism. Orwell feared that the truth would be concealed from us. Huxley feared the truth would be drowned in a sea of irrelevance. Orwell feared we would become a captive culture. Huxley feared we would become a trivial culture, preoccupied with some equivalent of the feelies, the orgy porgy, and the centrifugal bumblepuppy. As Huxley remarked in Brave New World Revisited, the civil libertarians and rationalists who are ever on the alert to oppose tyranny “failed to take into account man’s almost infinite appetite for distractions.” In 1984, Huxley added, people are controlled by inflicting pain. In Brave New World, they are controlled by inflicting pleasure. In short, Orwell feared that what we hate will ruin us. Huxley feared that what we love will ruin us.

Neil Postman - Foreword to Amusing Ourselves to Death: Public Discourse in the Age of Show Business (1985)

By 2050, over three-quarters (155 of 204) of countries will not have high enough fertility rates to sustain population size over time; this will increase to 97% of countries (198 of 204) by 2100,

The Lancet, March 20, 2024

It is one of the great ironies that those who live only for their own pleasure tend to be more miserable and joyless than those who at least try to live a purpose driven life, especially if that purpose includes a sense of obligation to others.

John Winterson Richards


Palestinians trapped themselves in a cycle of choosing war, suffering defeat, finding themselves worse-off than before ... choosing war again, suffering defeat again, then again finding themselves worse-off - repeat forever. 

David Frum


The main mark of modern government is that we do not know who governs, 'de facto' any more than 'de jure'. We see the politician and not his backer; still less the backer of the backer; or (what is most important of all) the banker of the backer. 

J.R.R. Tolkien