--- title: "8 Working class Quotes By George Orwell" description: "8 Working class quotes by George Orwell. Plus more from George Orwell and more Working class sayings from other authors." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/83e/george-orwell-57_average_the-major-problem-of-our-time-is-the-dec_683396.jpg" --- > [The major problem of our time is the decay in the belief in personal immortality, and it cannot be dealt with while…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-orwell/the-major-problem-of-our-time-is-the-decay-in-the-belief-in-personal/) [George Orwell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-orwell/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/83e/george-orwell-57_average_the-major-problem-of-our-time-is-the-dec_683396.jpg) > [That rifle on the wall of the labourer's cottage or working class flat is the symbol of democracy. It is our job…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-orwell/that-rifle-on-the-wall-of-the-labourer-s-cottage-or-working-class/) [George Orwell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-orwell/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/329/george-orwell-57_class_that-rifle-on-the-wall-of-the-labourer-s_758319.jpg) > [That rifle hanging on the wall of the working-class flat or labourer's cottage is the symbol of democracy. It is our job…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-orwell/that-rifle-hanging-on-the-wall-of-the-working-class-flat-or-labourer/) [George Orwell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-orwell/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/6ca/george-orwell-57_class_that-rifle-hanging-on-the-wall-of-the-wo_1200808.jpg) > [The totalitarian states can do great things, but there is one thing they cannot do: they cannot give the factory-worker a rifle…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-orwell/the-totalitarian-states-can-do-great-things-but-there-is-one-thing/) [George Orwell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-orwell/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/7bc/george-orwell-57_bedroom_the-totalitarian-states-can-do-great-thi_1234792.jpg) > [If you ask any ordinary reader which of Dickens's proletarian characters he can remember, the three he is almost certain to mention…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-orwell/if-you-ask-any-ordinary-reader-which-of-dickens-s-proletarian/) [George Orwell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-orwell/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/230/george-orwell-57_asks_if-you-ask-any-ordinary-reader-which-of_1281807.jpg) > [We of the sinking middle class may sink without further struggles into the working class where we belong, and probably when we…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-orwell/we-of-the-sinking-middle-class-may-sink-without-further-struggles/) [George Orwell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-orwell/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/e4a/george-orwell-57_class_we-of-the-sinking-middle-class-may-sink_1621869.jpg) > [“This business of petty inconvenience and indignity, of being kept waiting about, of having to do everything at other people’s convenience, is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-orwell/this-business-of-petty-inconvenience-and-indignity-of-being-kept/) [George Orwell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-orwell/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/dd3/george-orwell-57_business_this-business-of-petty-inconvenience-and_2813714.jpg) > [How right the working classes are in their "materialism." How right they are to realize that the belly comes before the soul,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-orwell/how-right-the-working-classes-are-in-their-materialism-how-right-they/) [George Orwell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-orwell/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/2c7/george-orwell-57_belly_how-right-the-working-classes-are-in-the_2833060.jpg) ## Other authors on Working class - [ ![](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/uploads/sms4s/authors/processed/b014/author-karl-marx-55237.jpg) Karl Marx 15 quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/working-class/karl-marx/) - [ ![](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/uploads/sms4s/authors/processed/b005/author-bernie-sanders-17420.jpg) Bernie Sanders 15 quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/working-class/bernie-sanders/) - [ ![](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/uploads/sms4s/authors/processed/b018/author-noam-chomsky-71799.jpg) Noam Chomsky 11 quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/working-class/noam-chomsky/) - [ ![](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/uploads/sms4s/authors/processed/b001/author-j-d-vance-3503.jpg) J.D. Vance 9 quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/working-class/j-d-vance/) - [ ![](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/uploads/sms4s/authors/processed/b001/author-j-d-vance-2-3852.jpg) J. D. Vance 7 quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/working-class/j-d-vance-2/) - [ ![](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/uploads/sms4s/authors/processed/b005/author-bill-ayers-17832.jpg) Bill Ayers 7 quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/working-class/bill-ayers/) - [ ![](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/uploads/sms4s/authors/processed/b024/author-vladimir-lenin-94029.jpg) Vladimir Lenin 6 quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/working-class/vladimir-lenin/) - [Richard Ojeda 6 quotes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/working-class/richard-ojeda/) - [ ![](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/uploads/sms4s/authors/processed/b001/author-nina-turner-3107.jpg) Nina Turner 6 quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/working-class/nina-turner/) - [ ![](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/uploads/sms4s/authors/processed/b013/author-john-lennon-51796.jpg) John Lennon 6 quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/working-class/john-lennon/) - [ ![](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/uploads/sms4s/authors/processed/b011/author-haruki-murakami-40784.jpg) Haruki Murakami 6 quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/working-class/haruki-murakami/) - [ ![](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/uploads/sms4s/authors/processed/b010/author-george-packer-37899.jpg) George Packer 6 quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/working-class/george-packer/) ## More by George Orwell > [In the nineteenth century some parts of the world were unexplored, but there was almost no restriction on travel.:; Up to 1914 you did…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-orwell/in-the-nineteenth-century-some-parts-of-the-world-were-unexplored-but/) [George Orwell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-orwell/) > [It was given out that the animals there practised cannibalism, tortured one another with red-hot horseshoes, and had their females in common. This was…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-orwell/it-was-given-out-that-the-animals-there-practised-cannibalism/) [George Orwell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-orwell/) > [“The actual writing would be easy. All he had to do was to transfer to paper the interminable restless monologue that had been running…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-orwell/the-actual-writing-would-be-easy-all-he-had-to-do-was-to-transfer-to/) [George Orwell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-orwell/) > [He felt as though he were wandering in the forests of the sea bottom, lost in a monstrous world where he himself was the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-orwell/he-felt-as-though-he-were-wandering-in-the-forests-of-the-sea-bottom/) [George Orwell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-orwell/) > [“if you took 1 Corinthians, chapter thirteen, and in every verse wrote 'money' instead of 'charity', the chapter had ten times as much meaning…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-orwell/if-you-took-1-corinthians-chapter-thirteen-and-in-every-verse-wrote/) [George Orwell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-orwell/) > [Happiness can exist only in acceptance.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-orwell/happiness-can-exist-only-in-acceptance/) [George Orwell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-orwell/) > [And if all others accepted the lie which the Party imposed—if all records told the same tale—then the lie passed into history and became…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-orwell/and-if-all-others-accepted-the-lie-which-the-party-imposed-if-all/) [George Orwell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-orwell/) > [“Whitman himself "accepted" a great deal that his contemporaries found unmentionable. For he is not only writing of the prairie, he also wanders through…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-orwell/whitman-himself-accepted-a-great-deal-that-his-contemporaries-found/) [George Orwell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-orwell/) > [“But I tell you, Winston, that reality is not external. Reality exists in the human mind, and nowhere else. Whatever the Party holds to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-orwell/but-i-tell-you-winston-that-reality-is-not-external-reality-exists-in/) [George Orwell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-orwell/) > [“And the people under the sky were also very much the same...everywhere, all over the world, hundreds or thousands of millions of people just…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-orwell/and-the-people-under-the-sky-were-also-very-much-the-same-everywhere/) [George Orwell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-orwell/) > [Don’t you see that the whole aim of Newspeak is to narrow the range of thought? In the end we shall make thoughtcrime literally…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-orwell/don-t-you-see-that-the-whole-aim-of-newspeak-is-to-narrow-the-range/) [George Orwell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-orwell/) > [Windmill or no windmill, he said, life would go on as it had always gone on--that is, badly.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-orwell/windmill-or-no-windmill-he-said-life-would-go-on-as-it-had-always/) [George Orwell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-orwell/) > [“Man is the only creature that consumes without producing. He does not give milk, he does not lay eggs, he is too weak to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-orwell/man-is-the-only-creature-that-consumes-without-producing-he-does-not/) [George Orwell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-orwell/) > [And the bigger the fall, the bigger the joke. It would be better fun to throw a custard pie at a bishop than at…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-orwell/and-the-bigger-the-fall-the-bigger-the-joke-it-would-be-better-fun-to/) [George Orwell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-orwell/) > [“Any writer or journalist who wants to retain his integrity finds himself thwarted by the general drift of society rather than by active persecution.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-orwell/any-writer-or-journalist-who-wants-to-retain-his-integrity-finds/) [George Orwell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-orwell/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "ItemList", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/working-class/george-orwell/#itemlist", "name": "8 Working class Quotes By George Orwell", "numberOfItems": 8, "itemListElement": [ { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 1, "item": { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "The major problem of our time is the decay in the belief in personal immortality, and it cannot be dealt with while the average human being is either drudging like an ox or shivering in fear of the secret police... 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A burglar, a valet and a drunken midwife-not exactly a representative cross-section of the English working class.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "George Orwell" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-orwell/if-you-ask-any-ordinary-reader-which-of-dickens-s-proletarian/", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/230/george-orwell-57_asks_if-you-ask-any-ordinary-reader-which-of_1281807.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/230/george-orwell-57_asks_if-you-ask-any-ordinary-reader-which-of_1281807.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/230/george-orwell-57_asks_if-you-ask-any-ordinary-reader-which-of_1281807.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“If you ask any ordinary reader which of Dickens's proletarian characters he can remember, the three he is…” — George Orwell", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } } }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 6, "item": { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "We of the sinking middle class may sink without further struggles into the working class where we belong, and probably when we get there it will not be so dreadful as we feared, for, after all, we have nothing to lose.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "George Orwell" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-orwell/we-of-the-sinking-middle-class-may-sink-without-further-struggles/", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/e4a/george-orwell-57_class_we-of-the-sinking-middle-class-may-sink_1621869.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/e4a/george-orwell-57_class_we-of-the-sinking-middle-class-may-sink_1621869.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/e4a/george-orwell-57_class_we-of-the-sinking-middle-class-may-sink_1621869.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“We of the sinking middle class may sink without further struggles into the working class where we belong…” — George Orwell", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } } }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 7, "item": { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“This business of petty inconvenience and indignity, of being kept waiting about, of having to do everything at other people’s convenience, is inherent in working-class life. A thousand influences constantly press a working man down into a passive role. He does not act, he is acted upon. He feels himself the slave of mysterious authority and has a firm conviction that ‘they’ will never allow him to do this, that, and the other. Once when I was hop-picking I asked the sweated pickers (they earn something under sixpence an hour) why they did not form a union. I was told immediately that ‘they’ would never allow it. Who were ‘they’? I asked. 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