Totalitarianism Quotes

Browse through our collection of quotes tagged with Totalitarianism.

It was sometimes feebly argued, as the political and militar

It was sometimes feebly argued, as the political and military war against this enemy ran into difficulties, that it was 'a war without end.' I never saw the point of this plaintive objection. The war against superstition and the totalitarian mentality is an endless war. In protean forms, it is fought and refought in every country and every generation. In bin Ladenism we confront again the awful combination of the highly authoritarian personality with the chaotically nihilist and anarchic one. Temporary victories can be registered against this, but not permanent ones. As Bertold Brecht's character says over the corpse of the terrible Arturo Ui, the bitch that bore him is always in heat. But it is in this struggle that we develop the muscles and sinews that enable us to defend civilization, and the moral courage to name it as something worth fighting for.

Christopher Hitchens

War Superstition Totalitarianism Nihilism Islamism Authoritarianism Osama Bin Laden Al Qaeda Bertold Brecht

The Revolution will be complete when the language is perfect

The Revolution will be complete when the language is perfect.

Language George Orwell Totalitarianism Socialism

I used to call myself a single-issue voter on the essential

I used to call myself a single-issue voter on the essential question of defending civilization against its terrorist enemies and their totalitarian protectors, and on that 'issue' I hope I can continue to expose and oppose any ambiguity.

Christopher Hitchens

Politics Terrorism Islam Totalitarianism United States United States Elections 2008 Islamism Politics Of The United States

If you can that staying human is worth while, even when it c

If you can that staying human is worth while, even when it can't have any result whatever, you've beaten them.

Politics George Orwell Totalitarianism Socialism

Despotic governments can stand 'moral force' till the cows c

Despotic governments can stand 'moral force' till the cows come home; what they fear is physical force.

War Dictatorship Pacifism Totalitarianism Despots Interventionism

A totalitarian state is in effect a theocracy, and its rulin

A totalitarian state is in effect a theocracy, and its ruling caste, in order to keep its position, has to be thought of as infallible. But since, in practice, no one is infallible, it is frequently necessary to rearrange past events in order to show that this or that mistake was not made, or that this or that imaginary triumph actually happened.

Religion Totalitarianism Theocracy

Well, as Hannah Arendt famously said, there can be a banal a

Well, as Hannah Arendt famously said, there can be a banal aspect to evil. In other words, it doesn't present always. I mean, often what you're meeting is a very mediocre person. But nonetheless, you can get a sort of frisson of wickedness from them. And the best combination of those, I think, I describe him in the book, is/was General Jorge Rafael Videla of Argentina, who I met in the late 1970s when the death squad war was at its height, and his fellow citizens were disappearing off the street all the time. And he was, in some ways, extremely banal. I describe him as looking like a human toothbrush. He was a sort of starch, lean officer with a silly mustache, and a very stupid look to him, but a very fanatical glint as well. And, if I'd tell you why he's now under house arrest in Argentina, you might get a sense of the horror I felt as I was asking him questions about all this. He's in prison in Argentina for selling the children of the rape victims among the private prisoners, who he kept in a personal jail. And I don't know if I've ever met anyone who's done anything as sort of condensedly horrible as that.

Christopher Hitchens

Evil Dictatorship Totalitarianism 1970s Argentina Hannah Arendt Hitch 22 Jorge Rafael Videla Rape

What difference does it make to the dead, the orphans and th

What difference does it make to the dead, the orphans and the homeless, whether the mad destruction is wrought under the name of totalitarianism or in the holy name of liberty or democracy?

Politics War Society Loss Liberty Democracy Fascism Totalitarianism