George Orwell

Today would have been George Orwell's 118th birthday. Sad to say but Orwell is probably disliked by many in the US for the simple fact that a few generations of high school students have been forced to read either 1984 or Animal Farm and most high schoolers weren't ready to understand the genius of the works (me included). 

Here are some of my favorite Orwell quotes which are sadly still relevant today:

"Early in life, I had noticed that no event is ever correctly reported in a newspaper." - George Orwell

"These people don't see that if you encourage totalitarian methods, the time may come when they will be used against you and not for you." - George Orwell

"That rifle on the wall of the labourer's cottage or working class flat is the symbol of democracy. It is our job to see it stays there." - George Orwell

"Autobiography is only to be trusted when it reveals something disgraceful. A man who gives a good account of himself is probably lying, since any life when viewed from the inside is simply a series of defeats." - George Orwell

"The further a society drifts from the truth, the more it will hate those who speak it." - George Orwell

"People sleep peaceably in their beds at night only because rough men stand ready to do violence on their behalf." - George Orwell