“ We are not interested in the good of others; we are interested solely in power. Not wealth or luxury or long life or happiness: only power, pure power. What pure power means you will understand presently. We are different from all the oligarchies of the past, in that we know what we are doing. ”
George Orwell, 1984 (1949). copy citation
Author | George Orwell |
---|---|
Source | 1984 |
Topic | wealth happiness |
Date | 1949 |
Language | English |
Reference | |
Note | |
Weblink | http://gutenberg.net.au/ebooks01/0100021.txt |
Context
““ You should know better than to say a thing like that. ”
He pulled the lever back and continued:
“ Now I will tell you the answer to my question. It is this. The Party seeks power entirely forits own sake. We are not interested in the good of others; we are interested solely in power. Not wealth or luxury or long life or happiness: only power, pure power. What pure power means you will understand presently. We are different from all the oligarchies of the past, in that we know what we are doing. All the others, even those who resembled ourselves, were cowards and hypocrites. The German Nazis and the Russian Communists came very close to us in their methods, but they never had the courage to recognize their own motives.” source
He pulled the lever back and continued:
“ Now I will tell you the answer to my question. It is this. The Party seeks power entirely forits own sake. We are not interested in the good of others; we are interested solely in power. Not wealth or luxury or long life or happiness: only power, pure power. What pure power means you will understand presently. We are different from all the oligarchies of the past, in that we know what we are doing. All the others, even those who resembled ourselves, were cowards and hypocrites. The German Nazis and the Russian Communists came very close to us in their methods, but they never had the courage to recognize their own motives.” source