Dystopian novelist George Orwell as soon as wrote or mentioned, “The simplest technique to destroy individuals is to disclaim and obliterate their very own understanding of their historical past.”
English author George Orwell, whose actual identify was Eric Arthur Blair, was born in India on the flip of the twentieth Century and went on to jot down commentary on the specter of totalitarianism, democratic socialism, and anti-imperialism within the type of dystopian novels. As a type of prophetic poster youngster of dystopia – the time period “Orwellian” actually refers back to the totalitarian future he wrote of in his ebook “1984” – quotes on dystopian themes have typically been incorrectly attributed to him.
One such quote gained explicit traction on a number of social media platforms through the years: “The simplest technique to destroy individuals is to disclaim and obliterate their very own understanding of their historical past.”
“The most effective way to destroy people is to deny and obliterate their own understanding of their history.” ~ George Orwell
by inconspiracy
(Goodreads)
We reached out to the Orwell Society and obtained the next response from Benedict Cooper, the society’s publicity officer:
I’ve looked for this phrase within the digitised Orwell library and might’t discover it. And from what I can see on-line this has been beforehand questioned and located to not be backed up with any sources from Orwell, so I’d conclude that it isn’t an actual Orwell quote.
As with so many of those misquotes/misattributions, it chimes with a lot of Orwell’s pondering — the sentiment is echoed in his writing. In Nineteen Eighty-4 in fact he does describe in size how the social gathering alters historical past and destroys facets of historic document that don’t go well with its current energy base. However there is not any proof he really wrote this, and I will add that language of this phrase would not sound Orwellian to me.
The Orwell Society’s secretary designate, Chris Harrison, additionally responded, saying:
This assertion is commonly attributed to Orwell in web articles however by no means with any reference to a selected supply. We aren’t conscious of it being an genuine Orwell quote. It does roughly correspond to one of many messages in 1984 however is definitely not a direct quote.
We searched a PDF version of “1984,” which the quote is commonly attributed to, and didn’t discover it. Typically quotes like this mysteriously seem on the web and are shared so many instances it turns into practically unimaginable to hint the place precisely they originated. So far as we will decide, Orwell did not utter the assertion.
In “1984,” nevertheless, messages concerning the destruction of peoples’ historical past that Cooper and Harrison alluded to may be discovered. It is potential the next passage from “1984” impressed the quote in query:
Each document has been destroyed or falsified, each ebook has been rewritten, each image has been repainted, each statue and avenue and constructing has been renamed, each date has been altered. And that course of is constant day-to-day and minute by minute. Historical past has stopped. Nothing exists besides an countless current during which the Occasion is at all times proper.
In sum, Orwell didn’t write or say: “The simplest technique to destroy individuals is to disclaim and obliterate their very own understanding of their historical past.” Nevertheless, the sentiment of the quote seems in lots of messages in Orwell’s “1984.”
We beforehand reported on another misattributed Orwell quote: “The additional a society drifts from the reality, the extra they’ll hate those who converse it.”
Sources
David Barton Makes use of Doubtful George Orwell Quote – Warren Throckmorton. 10 Aug. 2017, https://wthrockmorton.com/2017/08/10/dubious-george-orwell-quote/.
‘Dwelling’. The Orwell Society, https://orwellsociety.com. Accessed 17 June 2024.
MacGuill, Dan. ‘Did George Orwell Say This About Societies That “Drift From the Reality”?’ Snopes, 20 Sept. 2021, https://www.snopes.com//fact-check/george-orwell-drift-from-truth/.
Nige. ‘Nigeness: As Orwell Did not Say…’ Nigeness, 25 Aug. 2017, https://nigeness.blogspot.com/2017/08/as-orwell-didnt-say.html.
