He thought with a kind of astonishment of the biological uselessness of pain and fear, the treachery of the human body which always freezes into inertia at exactly the moment when a special effort is needed. He might have silenced the dark-haired girl if only he had acted quickly enough; but precisely because of the extremity of danger he had lost the power to act. It struck him that in moments of crisis one is never fighting against an external enemy but always against one's own body. Even now, in spite of the gin, the dull ache in his belly made consecutive thought impossible. And it is the same, he percieved, in all seemingly heroic or tragic situatuions. On the battlefield, in the torture chamber, on a sinking ship, the issues that you are fighting for are always forgotten, because the body swells up until it fills the universe, and even when you are not paralyzed by fright or screaming with pain, life is a moment-to-moment struggle against hunger or cold or sleeplessness, against a sour stomach or an aching tooth. George Orwell
About This Quote

This quote is so true. When you are in danger, your instinct is to scream, fight or run away. However, when you are in the middle of danger, because your body has taken over, there is nothing that you can do. This quote shows us that life is not just about the people around us, but about ourselves too. We are our own worst enemies when it comes to being in danger because our bodies make us freeze.

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More Quotes By George Orwell
  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.
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  4. Who controls the past controls the future. Who controls the present controls the past.
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