What is above all needed is to let the meaning choose the w… - George Orwell

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What is above all needed is to let the meaning choose the word, and not the other way around. In prose, the worst thing you can do with words is to surrender to them.

George Orwell

Politics and the English Language · 1946 Verified in 1 source Sign up to see the complete provenance

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About George Orwell

George Orwell (25 June 1903 – 21 January 1950) was the pen name of British novelist, essayist, and journalist Eric Arthur Blair, whose work is characterised by lucid prose, awareness of social injustice, opposition to totalitarianism, and strong support of democratic socialism.

Biography information from Wikiquote

Also Known As

Pen Names: John Freeman

Birth Name: Eric Arthur Blair

Alternative Names: Orwell • Eric Blair • P. S. Burton

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George Bernard Shaw Robert A. Heinlein Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn John le Carré Isaac Asimov

Additional quotes by George Orwell

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.

Perhaps a lunatic was simply a minority of one.

All Spaniards, we discovered, knew two English expressions. One was "O.K., baby", the other was a word used by the Barcelona whores in their dealings with English sailors, and I am afraid the compositors would not print it.

What is above all needed is to let the meaning choose the word, and not the other way around. In prose, the worst thing you can do with words is to s… - George Orwell

About George Orwell

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Additional quotes by George Orwell