On the whole human beings want to be good, but not too good, and not quite all the time.

Quote by George Orwell

Topics: Ethics Quotes, Goodness Quotes, Humanity Quotes, Perspective Quotes

Liberal: a power worshipper without power.

Liberal: a power worshipper without power.

The quickest way of ending a war is to lose it.

The quickest way of ending a war is to lose it.

Serious sport has nothing to do with fair play. It is bound up with hatred,...

Serious sport has nothing to do with fair play. It is bound up with hatred,...

Perhaps a lunatic was simply a minority of one.

Perhaps a lunatic was simply a minority of one.

The nationalist not only does not disapprove of atrocities committed by his own side, but...

The nationalist not only does not disapprove of atrocities committed by his own side, but...

Saints should always be judged guilty until they are proved innocent.

Saints should always be judged guilty until they are proved innocent.

A man receiving charity always hates his benefactor- it is a fixed characteristic of human...

A man receiving charity always hates his benefactor- it is a fixed characteristic of human...

Freedom is the freedom to say that two plus two make four. If that is...

Freedom is the freedom to say that two plus two make four. If that is...

Enlightened people seldom or never possess a sense of responsibility.

Enlightened people seldom or never possess a sense of responsibility.

The atmosphere of orthodoxy is always damaging to prose, and above all it is completely...

The atmosphere of orthodoxy is always damaging to prose, and above all it is completely...

Language ought to be the joint creation of poets and manual workers.

Language ought to be the joint creation of poets and manual workers.

Dickens is one of those authors who are well worth stealing.

Dickens is one of those authors who are well worth stealing.

If liberty means anything at all, it means the right to tell people what they...

If liberty means anything at all, it means the right to tell people what they...

We may find in the long run that tinned food is a deadlier weapon than...

We may find in the long run that tinned food is a deadlier weapon than...

As I write, highly civilized human beings are flying overhead, trying to kill me.

As I write, highly civilized human beings are flying overhead, trying to kill me.

For the ordinary man is passive. Within a narrow circle (home life, and perhaps the...

For the ordinary man is passive. Within a narrow circle (home life, and perhaps the...

Prolonged, indiscriminate reviewing of books is a quite exceptionally thankless, irritating and exhausting job. It...

Prolonged, indiscriminate reviewing of books is a quite exceptionally thankless, irritating and exhausting job. It...

People sleep peaceably in their beds at night only because rough men stand ready to...

People sleep peaceably in their beds at night only because rough men stand ready to...

A dirty joke is a sort of mental rebellion.

A dirty joke is a sort of mental rebellion.

To survive it is often necessary to fight and to fight you have to dirty...

To survive it is often necessary to fight and to fight you have to dirty...