"We have now sunk to a depth at which restatement of the obvious is the first duty of intelligent men."
-George Orwell


"In a time of universal deceit - telling the truth is a revolutionary act."
-George Orwell


"The whole aim of practical politics is to keep the populace alarmed -- and thus clamorous to be led to safety -- by menacing it with an endless series of hobgoblins, all of them imaginary."
-H.L. Mencken


"Facts must be distorted, relevant circuмstances concealed, and a picture presented which by its crude coloring will persuade the ignorant people that their Government is blameless, their cause is righteous, and that the indisputable wickedness of the enemy is beyond question.
A moment's reflection would tell any reasonable person that such obvious bias cannot possibly represent the truth. But the moment's reflection is not allowed; lies are circulated with great rapidity. The unthinking mass accept them and by their excitement sway the rest.
The amount of rubbish and humbug that pass under the name of patriotism in wartime in all countries is sufficient to make decent people blush when they are subsequently disillusioned."
-Arthur Ponsonby, Falsehood in Wartime, 1928


"It only stands to reason that where there's sacrifice, there's someone collecting the sacrificial offerings. Where there's service, there is someone being served. The man who speaks to you of sacrifice is speaking of slaves and masters, and intends to be the master."
-Ayn Rand


"the individual is handicapped by coming face to face with a conspiracy so monstrous he cannot believe it exists."
-J. Edgar Hoover, 1956, speaking of communism


"It is also important for the State to inculcate in its subjects an aversion to any "conspiracy theory of history;" for a search for "cօռspιʀαcιҽs" means a search for motives and an attribution of responsibility for historical misdeeds. If, however, any tyranny imposed by the State, or venality, or aggressive war, was caused not by the State rulers but by mysterious and arcane "social forces," or by the imperfect state of the world or, if in some way, everyone was responsible ("We Are All Murderers," proclaims one slogan), then there is no point to the people becoming indignant or rising up against such misdeeds. Furthermore, an attack on "conspiracy theories" means that the subjects will become more gullible in believing the "general welfare" reasons that are always put forth by the State for engaging in any of its despotic actions. A "conspiracy theory" can unsettle the system by causing the public to doubt the State's ideological propaganda."
-Murray N. Rothbard, in The Anatomy of the State


"The terrible thing about the quest for truth is that you find it."
-Remy de Gourmont


"Winston could not definitely remember a time when his country had not been at war"
-George Orwell, 1984


"Orwell was not wrong when he said of Western Marxists that if it paid better they'd be fascists. The chimera of absolute power has a certain hold on utopians, who claim they need to be devils to do the work of angels."
-Victor David Hanson, 2004-Mar-31, "Question Log"