O’Brien: How does one man assert his power over another, Winston?Winston: By making him suffer. O’ Brien: Exactly. By making him suffer. Obedience is not enough. Unless he is suffering, how can you be sure that he is obeying your will and not his own? Power is in inflicting pain and humiliation. Power is in tearing human minds to pieces and putting them together again in new shapes of your own choosing. Do you begin to see, then, what kind of world we are creating? It is the exact opposite of the stupid hedonistic Utopias that the old reformers imagined. A world of fear and treachery and torment, a world of trampling and being trampled upon, a world which will grow not less but MORE merciless as it refines itself. Progress in our world will be progress towards more pain. The old civilizations claimed that they were founded on love or justice. Ours is founded upon hatred. George Orwell
About This Quote

In this quote, Orwell is explaining that you can control people by making them feel pain. He explains that people are much more likely to do things for themselves when they are in pain. The idea of being mistreated or being forced to do something against their will only makes the person work harder to be free. This quote also helps explain why leaders often have so much power over lesser people because you often have less power over the leader than you do over the people who are given orders by the leader.

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  1. Confession is not betrayal. What you say or do doesn't matter only feelings matter. If they could make me stop loving you-that would be the real betrayal.
  2. At 50, everyone has the face he deserves.
  3. This work was strictly voluntary, but any animal who absented himself from it would have his rations reduced by half.
  4. Who controls the past controls the future. Who controls the present controls the past.
  5. War is peace. Freedom is slavery. Ignorance is strength.
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