WIST Quotations

Hugo, Victor -- (Attributed)

Dave — Mon, 16 Feb 2026 19:03:04 +0000

When dictatorship is a fact, revolution becomes a right.

[Quand la dictature est un fait, la révolution devient un droit.]

Victor Hugo (1802-1885) French writer
(Attributed)

While in keeping with his opposition to the regime of Napoleon III, I have been unable to find any primary source or citation in English or French for this quotation (that Time Magazine (1957-06-03) used the quote doesn't really count).

Arendt, Hannah -- The Origins of Totalitarianism, Part 3, ch. 13 “Ideology and Terror” (1951)

Dave — Tue, 13 Jan 2026 22:17:36 +0000

The aim of totalitarian education has never been to instill convictions but to destroy the capacity to form any.

Hannah Arendt (1906-1975) German-American philosopher, political theorist
The Origins of Totalitarianism, Part 3, ch. 13 “Ideology and Terror” (1951)
(Source)

Arendt, Hannah -- The Origins of Totalitarianism, Part 3, ch. 10 “A Classless Soceity” (1958 ed.)

Dave — Tue, 06 Jan 2026 19:42:45 +0000

The consistent persecution of every higher form of intellectual activity by the new mass leaders springs from more than their natural resentment against everything they cannot understand. Total domination does not allow for free initiative in any field of life, for any activity that is not entirely predictable. Totalitarianism in power invariably replaces all first-rate talents, regardless of their sympathies, with those crackpots and fools whose lack of intelligence and creativity is still the best guarantee of their loyalty.

Hannah Arendt (1906-1975) German-American philosopher, political theorist
The Origins of Totalitarianism, Part 3, ch. 10 “A Classless Soceity” (1958 ed.)
(Source)

Orwell, George -- Essay (1942-08), “Looking Back on the Spanish War, ch. 4, Such, Such Were the Joys, essay 8 (1953)

Dave — Fri, 12 Dec 2025 18:33:21 +0000

Nazi theory indeed specifically denies that such a thing as “the truth” exists. There is, for instance, no such thing as “science.” There is only “German science,” “Jewish science” etc. The implied objective of this line of thought is a nightmare world in which the Leader, or some ruling clique, controls not only the future but the past. If the Leader says of such and such an event, “It never happened” — well, it never happened. If he says that two and two are five — well, two and two are five. This prospect frightens me much more than bombs — and after our experiences of the last few years that is not a frivolous statement.

George Orwell (1903-1950) English journalist, essayist, writer [pseud. of Eric Arthur Blair]
Essay (1942-08), “Looking Back on the Spanish War, ch. 4, Such, Such Were the Joys, essay 8 (1953)
(Source)

This is a central theme in his later novel, Nineteen Eighty-Four.

Arendt, Hannah -- Eichmann in Jerusalem: A Report on the Banality of Evil, Postscript (1963)

Dave — Tue, 18 Nov 2025 16:40:50 +0000

The essence of totalitarian government, and perhaps the nature of every bureaucracy, is to make functionaries and mere cogs in the administrative machinery out of men, and thus to dehumanise them.

Hannah Arendt (1906-1975) German-American philosopher, political theorist
Eichmann in Jerusalem: A Report on the Banality of Evil, Postscript (1963)
(Source)

Pasternak, Boris -- Quoted in “Farewell in a Poet’s Land,” Life Magazine (1960-06-13)

Dave — Tue, 11 Jun 2024 23:24:08 +0000

They don’t ask much of you. They only want you to hate the things you love and to love the things you despise.

Boris Pasternak (1890-1960) Russian poet, novelist, and literary translator
Quoted in “Farewell in a Poet’s Land,” Life Magazine (1960-06-13)
(Source)

On the Communist leadership of the Soviet Union.

This article was an obituary for Pasternak. I have been unable to find a primary source for the quote.

Havel, Vaclav -- Essay (1978-10), “The Power of the Powerless,” ch. 7 [tr. Wilson], The Power of the Powerless [ed. John Keane] (1985)

Dave — Wed, 14 Jul 2021 14:33:18 +0000

If the main pillar of the system is living a lie, then it is not surprising that the fundamental threat to it is living in truth. This is why it must be suppressed more severely than anything else.

Václav Havel (1936-2011) Czech playwright, essayist, dissident, politician
Essay (1978-10), “The Power of the Powerless,” ch. 7 [tr. Wilson], The Power of the Powerless [ed. John Keane] (1985)
(Source)

Goni, Uki -- “‘Silence Is Health’: How Totalitarianism Arrives,” New York Review of Books (20 Aug 2018)

Dave — Thu, 24 Jun 2021 20:13:55 +0000

The transition from day to night is bewilderingly swift. Despite what many assume, civilized coexistence in a culture of tolerance is not always the norm, or even universally desired. Democracy is a hard-won, easily rolled back state of affairs from which many secretly yearn to be released.

Uki Goñi (b. 1953) Argentine historian, author
“‘Silence Is Health’: How Totalitarianism Arrives,” New York Review of Books (20 Aug 2018)
(Source)

Arendt, Hannah -- Essay (1964-08), “Personal Responsibility Under Dictatorship,” The Listener Magazine

Dave — Thu, 11 Feb 2021 19:44:34 +0000

Moreover, if we look at the techniques of totalitarian government, it is obvious that the argument of “the lesser evil” — far from being raised only from the outside by those who do not belong to the ruling elite — is one of the mechanisms built into the machinery of terror and criminality. Acceptance of lesser evils is consciously used in conditioning the government officials as well

Hannah Arendt (1906-1975) German-American philosopher, political theorist
Essay (1964-08), “Personal Responsibility Under Dictatorship,” The Listener Magazine
(Source)

Collected in Responsibility and Judgment, Part 1 "Responsibility" (2003).

Arendt, Hannah -- Interview (1973-10) with Roger Errera, Office de Radiodiffusion-Télévision Française (ORTF)

Dave — Thu, 14 Jan 2021 18:53:17 +0000

The moment we no longer have a free press, anything can happen. What makes it possible for a totalitarian or any other dictatorship to rule is that people are not informed; how can you have an opinion if you are not informed?

Hannah Arendt (1906-1975) German-American philosopher, political theorist
Interview (1973-10) with Roger Errera, Office de Radiodiffusion-Télévision Française (ORTF)
(Source)

Other parts of this interview were turned into an episode of the French TV series "Un certain regard," directed by Jean-Claude Lubtchansky, first broadcast 1974-07-06.

This portion of the interview was published in The New York Review of Books (1978-10-26).

Arendt, Hannah -- Interview (1973-10) with Roger Errera, Office de Radiodiffusion-Télévision Française (ORTF)

Dave — Thu, 07 Jan 2021 23:56:24 +0000

Totalitarianism appeals to the very dangerous emotional needs of people who live in complete isolation and in fear of one another.

Hannah Arendt (1906-1975) German-American philosopher, political theorist
Interview (1973-10) with Roger Errera, Office de Radiodiffusion-Télévision Française (ORTF)

This portion of the interview was published in The New York Review of Books (1978-10-26).

Other parts of the interview were turned into an episode of the French TV series "Un certain regard," directed by Jean-Claude Lubtchansky, first broadcast 1974-07-06.

Arendt, Hannah -- Interview (1973-10) with Roger Errera, Office de Radiodiffusion-Télévision Française (ORTF)

Dave — Thu, 17 Dec 2020 20:11:23 +0000

Totalitarianism begins in contempt for what you have. The second step is the notion: “Things must change — no matter how, Anything is better than what we have.” Totalitarian rulers organize this kind of mass sentiment, and by organizing it articulate it, and by articulating it make the people somehow love it.

Hannah Arendt (1906-1975) German-American philosopher, political theorist
Interview (1973-10) with Roger Errera, Office de Radiodiffusion-Télévision Française (ORTF)
(Source)

This portion of the interview was published in The New York Review of Books (1978-10-26).

Other parts of the interview were turned into an episode of the French TV series "Un certain regard," directed by Jean-Claude Lubtchansky, first broadcast 1974-07-06.

Orwell, George -- Essay (1946-01), “The Prevention of Literature,” Polemic Magazine

Dave — Wed, 28 Oct 2020 17:19:21 +0000

From the totalitarian point of view history is something to be created rather than learned. 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. Then again, every major change in policy demands a corresponding change of doctrine and a revelation of prominent historical figures.
This kind of thing happens everywhere, but is clearly likelier to lead to outright falsification in societies where only one opinion is permissible at any given moment. Totalitarianism demands, in fact, the continuous alteration of the past, and in the long run probably demands a disbelief in the very existence of objective truth.

George Orwell (1903-1950) English journalist, essayist, writer [pseud. of Eric Arthur Blair]
Essay (1946-01), “The Prevention of Literature,” Polemic Magazine
(Source)

Einstein, Albert -- Press statement, England (15 Sep 1933)

Dave — Thu, 17 Sep 2020 20:21:31 +0000

Any power must be the enemy of mankind which enslaves the individual by terror and force, whether it arises under a Fascist or Communist flag. All that is valuable in human society depends on the opportunity for development accorded to the individual.

Albert Einstein (1879-1955) German-American physicist
Press statement, England (15 Sep 1933)
(Source)

Arendt, Hannah -- The Origins of Totalitarianism, Part 3, ch. 10 “A Classless Society,” sec. 1 (1951)

Dave — Tue, 09 Jun 2020 19:55:34 +0000

The disturbing factor in the success of totalitarianism is rather the true selflessness of its adherents: it may be understandable that a Nazi or Bolshevik will not be shaken in his conviction by crimes against people who do not belong to the movement or are even hostile to it; but the amazing fact is that neither is he likely to waver when the monster begins to devour its own children, and not even if he becomes a victim of persecution himself, if he is framed and condemned, if he is purged from the party and sent to a forced-labor or concentration camp. On the contrary, to the wonder of the whole civilized world, he may even be willing to help in his own prosecution and frame his own death sentence if only his status as a member of the movement is not touched.

Hannah Arendt (1906-1975) German-American philosopher, political theorist
The Origins of Totalitarianism, Part 3, ch. 10 “A Classless Society,” sec. 1 (1951)
(Source)

Arendt, Hannah -- The Origins of Totalitarianism, Part 3, ch. 11 “The Totalitarian Movement,” sec. 2 (1951)

Dave — Wed, 27 May 2020 14:57:50 +0000

A mixture of gullibility and cynicism had been an outstanding characteristic of mob mentality before it became an everyday phenomenon of masses. In an ever-changing, incomprehensible, world the masses had reached the point where they would, at the same time, believe everything and nothing, think that everything is possible and that nothing was true. The mixture in itself was remarkable enough, because it spelled the end of the illusion that gullibility was a weakness of unsuspecting primitive souls and cynicism the vice of superior and refined minds.

Hannah Arendt (1906-1975) German-American philosopher, political theorist
The Origins of Totalitarianism, Part 3, ch. 11 “The Totalitarian Movement,” sec. 2 (1951)
(Source)

Arendt, Hannah -- The Origins of Totalitarianism, Part 3, ch. 13 “Ideology and Terror” (1951)

Dave — Tue, 12 May 2020 20:01:22 +0000

The ideal subject of totalitarian rule is not the convinced Nazi or the convinced Communist, but people for whom the distinction between fact and fiction (i.e., the reality of experience) and the distinction between true and false (i.e., the standards of thought) no longer exist.

Hannah Arendt (1906-1975) German-American philosopher, political theorist
The Origins of Totalitarianism, Part 3, ch. 13 “Ideology and Terror” (1951)
(Source)

Arendt, Hannah -- The Origins of Totalitarianism, Part 3, ch. 10 “A Classless Society,” sec. 1 (1951)

Dave — Tue, 28 Apr 2020 21:40:11 +0000

For the propaganda of totalitarian movements which precede and accompany totalitarian regimes is invariably as frank as it is mendacious, and would-be totalitarian rulers usually start their careers by boasting of their past crimes and carefully outlining their future ones. The Nazis were “convinced that evil-doing in our time has a morbid force of attraction,” Bolshevik assurances inside and outside Russia that they do not recognize ordinary moral standards have become a mainstay of Communist propaganda, and experience has proven time and again that the propaganda value of evil deeds and general contempt for moral standards is independent of mere self-interest, supposedly the most powerful psychological factor in politics.

Hannah Arendt (1906-1975) German-American philosopher, political theorist
The Origins of Totalitarianism, Part 3, ch. 10 “A Classless Society,” sec. 1 (1951)
(Source)

Arendt, Hannah -- (Spurious)

Dave — Wed, 17 May 2017 15:44:15 +0000

One of the greatest advantages of the totalitarian elites of the twenties and thirties was to turn any statement of fact into a question of motive.

Hannah Arendt (1906-1975) German-American philosopher, political theorist
(Spurious)

This is frequently cited to Arendt, often to The Origins of Totalitarianism, (1951), but is not found as such in her works. The source appears to be a paraphrase of Arendt in a 1999 New Yorker article.

Stuart Elden suggested the following from The Origins of Totalitarianism, Part 3, ch. 11, might be original quotation the paraphrase was built on, though the overall meaning is different:

The elite is not composed of ideologists; its members’ whole education is aimed at abolishing their capacity for distinguishing between truth and falsehood, between reality and fiction. Their superiority consists in their ability immediately to dissolve every statement of fact into a declaration of purpose.

Arendt, Hannah -- Essay (1969-02-27), “Reflections on Violence,” ch. 4, The New York Review of Books

Dave — Tue, 15 Nov 2016 05:15:33 +0000

The climax of terror is reached when the police state begins to devour its own children, when yesterday’s executioner becomes today’s victim.

Hannah Arendt (1906-1975) German-American philosopher, political theorist
Essay (1969-02-27), “Reflections on Violence,” ch. 4, The New York Review of Books
(Source)

Revised and collected in On Violence, ch. 2 (1970). See Büchner (1835).

Stross, Charles -- “Multiculturalism or Liberalism?” Charlie’s Blog (30 May 2002)

Dave — Fri, 12 Sep 2014 12:53:01 +0000

The only thing I really can’t tolerate is intolerance. I’m a fuzzy-headed warm-hearted liberal, and I think fuzzy-headed warm-hearted liberalism is an ideological stance that needs defending — if necessary, with a hob-nailed boot-kick to the bollocks of budding totalitarianism. Mutual respect and tolerance is great, but it doesn’t work without the mutuality.

Charles "Charlie" Stross (b. 1964) British writer
“Multiculturalism or Liberalism?” Charlie’s Blog (30 May 2002)
(Source)

Connolly, Cyril -- “Ecce Gubernator,” The Unquiet Grave (1945)

Dave — Thu, 13 Sep 2012 13:04:23 +0000

All State propaganda exalts comradeship, for it is this gregarious herd-sense and herd-smell which keeps people from thinking and so reconsiles them to the destruction of their private lives.

Cyril Connolly (1903-1974) English intellectual, literary critic and writer.
“Ecce Gubernator,” The Unquiet Grave (1945)
(Source)

Berry, Wendell -- Speech (1994-09-29), “Conserving Forest Communities,” Kentucky Forest Summit, Louisville

Dave — Wed, 14 Mar 2012 12:44:10 +0000

That this economic system persists and grows larger and stronger in spite of its evident failure has nothing to do with rationality or, for that matter, with evidence. It persists because, embodied now in multinational corporations, it has discovered a terrifying truth: If you can control a people’s economy, you don’t need to worry about its politics; its politics have become irrelevant. If you control people’s choices as to whether or not they will work, and where they will work, and what they will do, and how well they will do it, and what they will eat and wear, and the genetic makeup of their crops and animals, and what they will do for amusement, then why should you worry about freedom of speech? In a totalitarian economy, any “political liberties” that the people might retain would simply cease to matter. If, as is often the case already, nobody can be elected who is not wealthy, and if nobody can be wealthy without dependence on the corporate economy, then what is your vote worth? The citizen thus becomes an economic subject.

Wendell Berry (b. 1934) American farmer, educator, poet, conservationist
Speech (1994-09-29), “Conserving Forest Communities,” Kentucky Forest Summit, Louisville
(Source)

Collected in Another Turn of the Crank (1995).

Arendt, Hannah -- The Origins of Totalitarianism, Part 3, ch. 10 “A Classless Society”, sec. 1 (1951)

Dave — Thu, 18 Mar 2010 15:26:19 +0000

Totalitarianism is never content to rule by external means, namely, through the state and a machinery of violence; thanks to its peculiar ideology and the role assigned to it in this apparatus of coercion, totalitarianism has discovered a means of dominating and terrorizing human beings from within.

Hannah Arendt (1906-1975) German-American philosopher, political theorist
The Origins of Totalitarianism, Part 3, ch. 10 “A Classless Society”, sec. 1 (1951)
(Source)

Smith, Margaret Chase -- “Declaration of Conscience,” Congressional Record, vol. 96, 81st Congress, 2d. sess. (1 Jun 1950)

Dave — Mon, 27 Oct 2008 10:08:53 +0000

It is high time that we stopped thinking politically as Republicans and Democrats about elections and started thinking patriotically as Americans about national security based on individual freedom. It is high time that we all stopped being tools and victims of totalitarian techniques — techniques that, if continued here unchecked, will surely end what we have come to cherish as the American Way of Life.

Margaret Chase Smith (1897-1965) American politician (US Senator, Maine)
“Declaration of Conscience,” Congressional Record, vol. 96, 81st Congress, 2d. sess. (1 Jun 1950)
(Source)