1984 Reverberations

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The following is a repost from the old blog from when I was reading 1984 for the first time.

August 25, 2006 @ 12:20 pm ·

So, I’m at the end of the second section of 1984, and I continue to be flabbergasted by its uncanny mirroring of now. This quote struck me today. Click on the links to view full texts or for definitions, etc.


“For the secret to rulership is to combine a belief in one’s own infallibility with the power to learn from past mistakes.”


-From Chapter 1 of THE THEORY AND PRACTICE OF OLIGARCHICAL COLLECTIVISM by Emmanuel Goldstein of 1984 by George Orwell

From 100 Mistakes for the President to Choose From

May 3, 2004

During a prime time press conference on April 13, President Bush was asked to name a mistake that he has made since taking office and what he has learned from it. Bush, who was unable to answer the question, admitted “maybe I’m not as quick on my feet as I should be in coming up with [a mistake].” But weeks later, Bush still hasn’t answered the question.