george orwell
Eric Arthur Blair
On each landing, opposite the lift shaft
the poster with the enormous face
gazed from the wall .
It was one of those pictures
which are so contrived that the
eyes follow you about
when you move .
BIG BROTHER IS WATCHING YOU
the caption beneath it ran .
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My father’s ideal was to make political writing
into an art richard blair - george orwell's son - post-gazette.com - 2017 |
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This life we live nowadays It's not life, it's stagnation death-in-life Look at all these bloody houses and the meaningless people inside them Sometimes I think we're all corpses Just rotting upright keep the aspidistra flying - 1936 |
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if you want a picture of the future imagine a boot stamping on a human face - for ever 1984 |
Man is the only real enemy we have Remove Man from the scene, and the root cause of hunger and overwork is abolished for ever animal farm . cap 1 |
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Perhaps a lunatic was simply a minority of one ...
ci incontreremo là
dove non c'è tenebra ...
The people will believe what the media 1984 |
se il pensiero distorce il linguaggio anche il linguaggio è in grado di distorcere il pensiero |
| Forse non c’è tanto bisogno e quindi desiderio di essere amati quanto di essere capiti perhaps one did not want to be loved so much as to be understood |
Un popolo che elegge corrotti impostori ladri e traditori non è vittima È complice |
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Good Prose
should be
transparent like a window pane When there is a gap between one's real and one's declared aims one turns instinctively to long words and exhausted idioms like a cuttlefish squirting out ink
Per vedere cosa c'è sotto il proprio naso occorre un grande sforzo to see what is in front of one's nose needs a constant struggle tribune - 22 marzo 1946 - in front of your nose |
perhaps
a man really dies when his
brain stops ...
And yet all the while there’s that peculiar intensity, the power of longing for things as you can’t long when you’re grown up and the feeling that time stretches out and out in front of you and that whatever
you’re doing you could go on for ever |
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nothing
of the population exist |
Lo Stato totalitario
fa di tutto per controllare i pensieri e le emozioni dei propri sudditi in modo persino più completo di come ne controlla le azioni. romanzi e saggi - letteratura e totalitarismo |
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The truth it is felt becomes untruth when your enemy utters it Recently I noticed that the very people who swallowed any and every horror story about the Japanese in Nanking in 1937 refused to believe exactly the same stories
about Hong
Kong in 1942 |
It is a mysterious thing the loss of faith as mysterious as faith itself Like faith it is ultimately not rooted in logic
it is a change in the climate of the mind |
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I libri migliori sono proprio quelli che dicono quel che già sappiamo the best books are those that tell you
what you know already |
But it is a corrupting thing to live one's real life in secret One should live with the stream of life
not against it |
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We are all drowning in filth. When I talk to anyone or
read the writings of anyone who has any axe to grind, I feel that
intellectual honesty and balanced judgement have simply disappeared from the
face of the earth … Everyone is dishonest, and everyone is utterly heartless
towards people who are outside the immediate range of his own interests.
What is most striking of all is the way sympathy can be turned on and off
like a tap according to political expediency. |
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Un bel giorno il partito avrebbe proclamato che due più due fa cinque, e voi avreste dovuto crederci. Era inevitabile che prima o poi succedesse, era nella logica stessa delle premesse su cui si basava il Partito. La visione del mondo che lo informava negava, tacitamente, non solo la validità dell'esperienza ma l'esistenza stessa della realtà esterna. Il senso comune costituiva l'eresia delle eresie. Ma la cosa terribile non era tanto il fatto che vi avrebbero uccisi che l'aveste pensata diversamente ma che potevano aver ragione loro. In fin dei conti come facciamo a sapere che due più due fa quattro ? O che la forza di gravità esiste davvero ? O che il passato è immutabile ? Che cosa succede, se il passato e il mondo esterno esistono solo nella vostra mente e la vostra mente è sotto controllo ? 1984 |
L'esperienza mi aveva insegnato molto presto che possiamo commettere degli errori indipendentemente dalla nostra volontà e poco tempo dopo imparai anche che possiamo commettere degli errori senza neanche capire cosa abbiamo fatto
e perché siano errori
Il giornalismo è scrivere ciò che qualcun altro non vuole che sia scritto
Tutto il resto sono pubbliche
relazioni everything else is public relations |
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Di solito a questo mondo se si riscuote un po' di stima
è per qualche cosa che non si merita
affatto |
the further a society drifts from the truth the more it will hate those that speak it quanto più una società si allontana dalla verità tanto più odierà quelli che la dicono |
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A plongeur is a slave, and a wasted slave, doing stupid and largely unnecessary work. He is kept at work, ultimately, because of a vague feeling that he would be dangerous if he had leisure. And educated people, who should be on his side, acquiesce in the process, because they know nothing about him and consequently are afraid of him. down and out in paris and london |
Quanto più si è consapevoli delle proprie inclinazioni politiche tanto maggiore sarà la possibilità di agire politicamente senza sacrificare la propria integrità estetica e intellettuale |
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È il destino inevitabile del sentimentale Tutte le sue opinioni mutano e si trasformano in quelle opposte al primo tocco della realtà the road to wigan pier |
È solo quando si incontra qualcuno di cultura ed educazione differenti dalle nostre che si comincia a scoprire quali siano realmente le nostre opinioni it is only when you meet someone of a different culture from yourself that you begin to realize what your own beliefs really are part two - the road to wigan pier |
| Political language - and with variations this is true of all political parties, from Conservatives to Anarchists - is designed to make lies sound truthful and murder respectable and to give an appearance of solidity to pure wind . | |
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may 20, 1937 - George Orwell was shot in the throat
while fighting for the Republican side in Spain but I have very few bad memories of Spaniards ... However, the sentry missed him In this war everyone always did miss everyone else, when it was
humanly possible |
L'oppressione è il male della gleba essendo difatti il lato oscuro della pressione Tutti sono uguali ma c'è chi è più uguale di altri Come il lato scaleno di un triangolo equilatero |
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> A NICE CUP OF TEA < - EVENING STANDARD 12 JANUARY 1946 IF YOU LOOK UP 'TEA' IN THE FIRST COOKERY BOOK THAT COMES TO HAND YOU WILL PROBABLY FIND THAT IT IS UNMENTIONED; OR AT MOST YOU WILL FIND A FEW LINES OF SKETCHY INSTRUCTIONS WHICH GIVE NO RULING ON SEVERAL OF THE MOST IMPORTANT POINTS. THIS IS CURIOUS, NOT ONLY BECAUSE TEA IS ONE OF THE MAIN STAYS OF CIVILIZATION IN THIS COUNTRY, AS WELL AS IN EIRE, AUSTRALIA AND NEW ZEALAND, BUT BECAUSE THE BEST MANNER OF MAKING IT IS THE SUBJECT OF VIOLENT DISPUTES. WHEN I LOOK THROUGH MY OWN RECIPE FOR THE PERFECT CUP OF TEA, I FIND NO FEWER THAN ELEVEN OUTSTANDING POINTS. ON PERHAPS TWO OF THEM THERE WOULD BE PRETTY GENERAL AGREEMENT, BUT AT LEAST FOUR OTHERS ARE ACUTELY CONTROVERSIAL. HERE ARE MY OWN ELEVEN RULES, EVERY ONE OF WHICH I REGARD AS GOLDEN : - FIRST OF ALL ONE SHOULD USE INDIAN OR CEYLONESE TEA. CHINA TEA HAS VIRTUES WHICH ARE NOT TO BE DESPISED NOWADAYS - IT IS ECONOMICAL, AND ONE CAN DRINK IT WITHOUT MILK - BUT THERE IS NOT MUCH STIMULATION IN IT. ONE DOES NOT FEEL WISER, BRAVER OR MORE OPTIMISTIC AFTER DRINKING IT. ANYONE WHO HAS USED THAT COMFORTING PHRASE 'A NICE CUP OF TEA' INVARIABLY MEANS INDIAN TEA. - SECONDLY TEA SHOULD BE MADE IN SMALL QUANTITIES - THAT IS, IN A TEAPOT. TEA OUT OF AN URN IS ALWAYS TASTELESS, WHILE ARMY TEA, MADE IN A CAULDRON, TASTES OF GREASE AND WHITEWASH. THE TEAPOT SHOULD BE MADE OF CHINA OR EARTHENWARE. SILVER OR BRITANNIAWARE TEAPOTS PRODUCE INFERIOR TEA AND ENAMEL POTS ARE WORSE; THOUGH CURIOUSLY ENOUGH A PEWTER TEAPOT - A RARITY NOWADAYS - IS NOT SO BAD. - THIRDLY THE POT SHOULD BE WARMED BEFOREHAND. THIS IS BETTER DONE BY PLACING IT ON THE HOB THAN BY THE USUAL METHOD OF SWILLING IT OUT WITH HOT WATER. - FOURTHLY THE TEA SHOULD BE STRONG. FOR A POT HOLDING A QUART, IF YOU ARE GOING TO FILL IT NEARLY TO THE BRIM, SIX HEAPED TEASPOONS WOULD BE ABOUT RIGHT. IN A TIME OF RATIONING, THIS IS NOT AN IDEA THAT CAN BE REALIZED ON EVERY DAY OF THE WEEK, BUT I MAINTAIN THAT ONE STRONG CUP OF TEA IS BETTER THAN TWENTY WEAK ONES. ALL TRUE TEA LOVERS NOT ONLY LIKE THEIR TEA STRONG, BUT LIKE IT A LITTLE STRONGER WITH EACH YEAR THAT PASSES - A FACT WHICH IS RECOGNIZED IN THE EXTRA RATION ISSUED TO OLD-AGE PENSIONERS. - FIFTHLY THE TEA SHOULD BE PUT STRAIGHT INTO THE POT. NO STRAINERS, MUSLIN BAGS OR OTHER DEVICES TO IMPRISON THE TEA. IN SOME COUNTRIES TEAPOTS ARE FITTED WITH LITTLE DANGLING BASKETS UNDER THE SPOUT TO CATCH THE STRAY LEAVES, WHICH ARE SUPPOSED TO BE HARMFUL. ACTUALLY ONE CAN SWALLOW TEA-LEAVES IN CONSIDERABLE QUANTITIES WITHOUT ILL EFFECT AND IF THE TEA IS NOT LOOSE IN THE POT IT NEVER INFUSES PROPERLY. - SIXTHLY ONE SHOULD TAKE THE TEAPOT TO THE KETTLE AND NOT THE OTHER WAY ABOUT. THE WATER SHOULD BE ACTUALLY BOILING AT THE MOMENT OF IMPACT, WHICH MEANS THAT ONE SHOULD KEEP IT ON THE FLAME WHILE ONE POURS. SOME PEOPLE ADD THAT ONE SHOULD ONLY USE WATER THAT HAS BEEN FRESHLY BROUGHT TO THE BOIL, BUT I HAVE NEVER NOTICED THAT IT MAKES ANY DIFFERENCE. - SEVENTHLY AFTER MAKING THE TEA, ONE SHOULD STIR IT, OR BETTER, GIVE THE POT A GOOD SHAKE, AFTERWARDS ALLOWING THE LEAVES TO SETTLE. - EIGHTHLY ONE SHOULD DRINK OUT OF A GOOD BREAKFAST CUP - THAT IS, THE CYLINDRICAL TYPE OF CUP, NOT THE FLAT, SHALLOW TYPE. THE BREAKFAST CUP HOLDS MORE, AND WITH THE OTHER KIND ONE'S TEA IS ALWAYS HALF COLD BEFORE ONE HAS WELL STARTED ON IT. - NINTHLY ONE SHOULD POUR THE CREAM OFF THE MILK BEFORE USING IT FOR TEA. MILK THAT IS TOO CREAMY ALWAYS GIVES TEA A SICKLY TASTE. - TENTHLY ONE SHOULD POUR TEA INTO THE CUP FIRST. THIS IS ONE OF THE MOST CONTROVERSIAL POINTS OF ALL; INDEED IN EVERY FAMILY IN BRITAIN THERE ARE PROBABLY TWO SCHOOLS OF THOUGHT ON THE SUBJECT. THE MILK-FIRST SCHOOL CAN BRING FORWARD SOME FAIRLY STRONG ARGUMENTS, BUT I MAINTAIN THAT MY OWN ARGUMENT IS UNANSWERABLE. THIS IS THAT, BY PUTTING THE TEA IN FIRST AND STIRRING AS ONE POURS, ONE CAN EXACTLY REGULATE THE AMOUNT OF MILK WHEREAS ONE IS LIABLE TO PUT IN TOO MUCH MILK IF ONE DOES IT THE OTHER WAY ROUND. - LASTLY TEA - UNLESS ONE IS DRINKING IT IN THE RUSSIAN STYLE - SHOULD BE DRUNK WITHOUT SUGAR. I KNOW VERY WELL THAT I AM IN A MINORITY HERE. BUT STILL, HOW CAN YOU CALL YOURSELF A TRUE TEALOVER IF YOU DESTROY THE FLAVOUR OF YOUR TEA BY PUTTING SUGAR IN IT ? IT WOULD BE EQUALLY REASONABLE TO PUT IN PEPPER OR SALT. TEA IS MEANT TO BE BITTER, JUST AS BEER IS MEANT TO BE BITTER. IF YOU SWEETEN IT, YOU ARE NO LONGER TASTING THE TEA, YOU ARE MERELY TASTING THE SUGAR; YOU COULD MAKE A VERY SIMILAR DRINK BY DISSOLVING SUGAR IN PLAIN HOT WATER. SOME PEOPLE WOULD ANSWER THAT THEY DON'T LIKE TEA IN ITSELF, THAT THEY ONLY DRINK IT IN ORDER TO BE WARMED AND STIMULATED, AND THEY NEED SUGAR TO TAKE THE TASTE AWAY. TO THOSE MISGUIDED PEOPLE I WOULD SAY: TRY DRINKING TEA WITHOUT SUGAR FOR, SAY, A FORTNIGHT AND IT IS VERY UNLIKELY THAT YOU WILL EVER WANT TO RUIN YOUR TEA BY SWEETENING IT AGAIN. THESE ARE NOT THE ONLY CONTROVERSIAL POINTS TO ARISE IN CONNEXION WITH TEA DRINKING, BUT THEY ARE SUFFICIENT TO SHOW HOW SUBTILIZED THE WHOLE BUSINESS HAS BECOME. THERE IS ALSO THE MYSTERIOUS SOCIAL ETIQUETTE SURROUNDING THE TEAPOT - WHY IS IT CONSIDERED VULGAR TO DRINK OUT OF YOUR SAUCER, FOR INSTANCE ? - AND MUCH MIGHT BE WRITTEN ABOUT THE SUBSIDIARY USES OF TEALEAVES, SUCH AS TELLING FORTUNES, PREDICTING THE ARRIVAL OF VISITORS, FEEDING RABBITS, HEALING BURNS AND SWEEPING THE CARPET. IT IS WORTH PAYING ATTENTION TO SUCH DETAILS AS WARMING THE POT AND USING WATER THAT IS REALLY BOILING, SO AS TO MAKE QUITE SURE OF WRINGING OUT OF ONE'S RATION THE TWENTY GOOD, STRONG CUPS OF THAT TWO OUNCES, PROPERLY HANDLED, OUGHT TO REPRESENT. the collected essays - journalism and letters - volume 3 - 1943-45 |
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Nel complesso
gli esseri umani vogliono essere buoni ma non troppo buoni e non per tutto il tempo on the whole human beings want to be good - but not too good - and not quite all the time |
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. A cinquant'anni ogni uomo ha la faccia che si merita at 50 everyone has the face he deserves from notebooks of george orwell . citazione simile a quella di albert camus in 'the fall_la chute' 1956 after a certain age every man is responsible for his face - après un certain âge tout homme est responsable de son visage answers.yahoo.com - bartleby.com |
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Un fatto è disapprovare le idee politiche di uno scrittore altra cosa, non necessariamente incompatibile con la prima è disapprovare ' lui ' perché ti costringe a pensare to dislike a writer's politics is one thing to dislike him because he forces you to think is another, not necessarily incompatible with the first |
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Every generation imagines itself to be more
intelligent than the one that went before it and wiser than the one that comes after it ogni generazione si reputa più intelligente di quella che la ha preceduta, e più saggia di quella che verrà |
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Tutto si confondeva in
una nebbia Il passato era cancellato, la cancellatura era stata dimenticata e la menzogna era diventata verità 1984 |
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prospettive : .mp4
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george orwell - ERIC ARTHUR BLAIR motihari bihar british india - bengala india 25 giugno 1903 university college hospital - londra 21 gennaio 1950 fece parte della polizia imperiale in birmania . giornalista repubblicano durante la guerra di spagna prese rapidamente le distanza dalla cecità degli intellettuali sul totalitarismo staliniano. i suoi scritti anticipatori descrivono avvenimenti di una dittatura planetaria fondata sulla manipolazione della struttura del linguaggio. condusse sempre la sua attività letteraria in parallelo con quella di giornalista e attivista politico . rimase d'ispirazione politica di sinistra . antisovietico e antistalinista si scontrò con una consistente parte di sinistra europea. nel 1936 sposò eileen o'shaugnessy e dopo la guerra adottarono un bambino ma eileen morì poco dopo nel 1945. risposatosi nel 1949 con sonia brownell assistente presso magazine horizon mori nel 1950 per le complicazioni della tubercolosi a 46 anni . .
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Che si sia tardato ad ascoltarlo e comprenderlo non fa
che provare quant'era in avanti rispetto alla coscienza dei tempi
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