1984 Big Brother Quotes

In the Party histories, of course, Big Brother figured as the leader and guardian of the Revolution since its very earliest days. His exploits had been gradually pushed backwards in time until already they extended into the fabulous world of the forties and the thirties.

– George Orwell

1984. Part 1, Chapter 3. Does Big Brother actually exist? There may have been such a person, but Winston knows that the stories told about Big Brother change and become embellished over time. To the Party and the population, his symbolic meaning the important thing.

With its grace and carelessness it seemed to annihilate a whole culture, a whole system of thought, as though Big Brother and the Party and the Thought Police could all be swept into nothingness by a single splendid movement of the arm.

– George Orwell

1984. Part 1, Chapter 3. Winston dreams about the ‘Golden Country’ where a dark-haired woman comes from across the field, and with one movement, flings off her clothes in a disdainful gesture. He is overwhelmed with admiration for the gesture.

Oceanic society rests ultimately on the belief that Big Brother is omnipotent and that the Party is infallible. But since in reality Big Brother is not omnipotent and the party is not infallible, there is need for an unwearying, moment-to-moment flexibility in the treatment of facts. The keyword here is BLACKWHITE. Like so many Newspeak words, this word has two mutually contradictory meanings. Applied to an opponent, it means the habit of impudently claiming that black is white, in contradiction of the plain facts. Applied to a Party member, it means a loyal willingness to say that black is white when Party discipline demands this. But it means also the ability to BELIEVE that black is white, and more, to KNOW that black is white, and to forget that one has ever believed the contrary.

– George Orwell

1984. Part 2, Chapter 9. Emmanuel Goldstein in his Theory and Practice of Oligarchic Collectivism.

He gazed up at the enormous face. Forty years it had taken him to learn what kind of smile was hidden beneath the dark mustache. O cruel, needless misunderstanding! O stubborn, self-willed exile from the loving breast! Two gin-scented tears trickled down the sides of his nose. But it was all right, everything was all right, the struggle was finished. He had won the victory over himself. He loved Big Brother.

– George Orwell

1984. Part 3, Chapter 6. Last lines of novel and some of the most heartbreaking lines in literature. One-time rebel Winston looking the telescreen at last succumbs to the Party’s brainwashing and torture and declares his love for Big Brother.

He examined the chess problem and set out the pieces. It was a tricky ending, involving a couple of knights.
‘White to play and mate in two moves.’
Winston looked up at the portrait of Big Brother. White always mates, he thought with a sort of cloudy mysticism. Always, without exception, it is so arranged. In no chess problem since the beginning of the world has black ever won. Did it not symbolize the eternal, unvarying triumph of Good over Evil? The huge face gazed back at him, full of calm power. White always mates.

– George Orwell

1984. Part 3, Chapter 6. After reading a chess problem, Winston reflects on how powerless the individual against the might of a totalitarian regime. At this point he is broken and no longer questions the Party.
Close