--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: But how can you stop people remembering…" description: "\"“But how can you stop people remembering things?’ cried Winston, again momentarily forgetting the dial. ‘It is involuntary. It is outside oneself. How ..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/50f/george-orwell-57_memory_but-how-can-you-stop-people-remembering_1662914.jpg" --- # But how can you stop people remembering things?’ cried… ![“But how can you stop people remembering things?’ cried Winston, again momentarily forgetting the dial. ‘It is involuntary. It is outside oneself. How can you control memory? You have not controlled mine!” quote by George Orwell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/50f/george-orwell-57_memory_but-how-can-you-stop-people-remembering_1662914.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/50f/george-orwell-57_memory_but-how-can-you-stop-people-remembering_1662914.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/50f/george-orwell-57_memory_but-how-can-you-stop-people-remembering_1662914.jpg) > ““But how can you stop people remembering things?’ cried Winston, again momentarily forgetting the dial. ‘It is involuntary. It is outside oneself. How can you control memory? You have not controlled mine!”” [George Orwell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-orwell/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. The passage highlights the futility of trying to suppress memories, as they arise involuntarily and beyond personal control. **In simple terms:** Memories cannot be fully controlled. Key Takeaway Accept that some thoughts are beyond control. Themes memory control autonomy Mood reflective somber thoughtful Type literary philosophical political When to use this quote - personal reflection - political discourse - mental health coping - authoritarian regimes - self‑awareness Key Concepts psychology political oppression cognitive freedom Questions to Reflect On - What memories do you find hardest to control? - How does acknowledging involuntary memory affect your sense of autonomy? A Different Perspective Even if you try to suppress, memories may resurface, affecting behavior. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Forgetting](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/forgetting/) [Memory](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/memory/) [Remembering](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/remembering/) ## Related quotes > [TAKING THINGS ONE DAY AT A TIME, ONE STEP AT A TIME AND REMEMBERING... THAT ALL THINGS HAPPEN IN GOD'S TIME, NOT IN MINE!!!](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cindy-dixon-owen/taking-things-one-day-at-a-time-one-step-at-a-time-and-remembering/) [Cindy Dixon-Owen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cindy-dixon-owen/) > [Never let the things you want, stop you from remembering the things you already have.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/amanda/never-let-the-things-you-want-stop-you-from-remembering-the-things/) [Amanda](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/amanda/) > [“That's what memory is like: layers, one overlapping another, and compacting down the way old leaves slowly crumble and turn to a rich peaty…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/julia-green/that-s-what-memory-is-like-layers-one-overlapping-another-and/) [Julia Green](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/julia-green/) > [“One had to be so careful...about remembering things. Thinking and remembering were something like walking along well-known paths and passageways that always used to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kate-seredy/one-had-to-be-so-careful-about-remembering-things-thinking-and/) [Kate Seredy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kate-seredy/) > [Improvisation is really not so much remembering things. And this is what I do when I play. I forget things. When I go on…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sonny-rollins/improvisation-is-really-not-so-much-remembering-things-and-this-is/) [Sonny Rollins](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sonny-rollins/) > [“I can no longer hear my voices, so I am a little lost. My suspicion is they would know far better how to tell…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-katzenbach/i-can-no-longer-hear-my-voices-so-i-am-a-little-lost-my-suspicion-is/) [John Katzenbach](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-katzenbach/) > [“Remembering things or processing memories can be a charged, or frightening, or uncomfortable time. It can help to imagine yourself being a reporter. This…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/a-t-w/remembering-things-or-processing-memories-can-be-a-charged-or/) A.T.W > [I will have spent my life trying to understand the function of remembering, which is not the opposite of forgetting, but rather its lining.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/chris-marker/i-will-have-spent-my-life-trying-to-understand-the-function-of/) [Chris Marker](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/chris-marker/) > [People have an annoying habit of remembering things they shouldnt.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/people-have-an-annoying-habit-of-remembering-things-they-shouldnt/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [“Watch everything she does. You can tell what a woman wants and needs by simply observing her. Even when you two are out spending…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/will-ag-martel/watch-everything-she-does-you-can-tell-what-a-woman-wants-and-needs/) Will Ag Martel > [I'm not good at remembering things, in general.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-prine/i-m-not-good-at-remembering-things-in-general/) [John Prine](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-prine/) > [People have an annoying habit of remembering things they shouldn't.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/christopher-paolini/people-have-an-annoying-habit-of-remembering-things-they-shouldn-t/) [Christopher Paolini](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/christopher-paolini/) > [“In addition to remembering things that one does not know how one remembers, one would also appear to remember things that one has no…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-markson/in-addition-to-remembering-things-that-one-does-not-know-how-one/) [David Markson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-markson/) > [“I missed her so much I wanted to die: a hard, physical longing, like a craving for air underwater. Lying awake, I tried to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/donna-tartt/i-missed-her-so-much-i-wanted-to-die-a-hard-physical-longing-like-a-2/) [Donna Tartt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/donna-tartt/) > [“Therefore people unconsciously glanced to the left when they were remembering things, and to the right when they were making stuff up.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/therefore-people-unconsciously-glanced-to-the-left-when-they-were/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) ## 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/) [Explore all 1,657 George Orwell quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-orwell/) ## More Forgetting quotes > [I have never been in, nor have I had any strong particular desire to be in, what is termed a costume drama, but I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/martin-freeman/i-have-never-been-in-nor-have-i-had-any-strong-particular-desire-to/) [Martin Freeman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/martin-freeman/) > [The most painful thing in life is losing yourself in the process of valuing someone too much & forgetting that you are special too.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/the-most-painful-thing-in-life-is-losing-yourself-in-the-process-of/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [I focus on this one thing: Forgetting the past and looking forward to what lies ahead.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/i-focus-on-this-one-thing-forgetting-the-past-and-looking-forward-to/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [Forgetting your Self is the greatest injury; all the calamities flow from it. Take care of the most important, the lesser will take care…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sri-nisargadatta-maharaj/forgetting-your-self-is-the-greatest-injury-all-the-calamities-flow/) [Sri Nisargadatta Maharaj](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sri-nisargadatta-maharaj/) > [If you can't forgive and forget, pick only one.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-brault/if-you-can-t-forgive-and-forget-pick-only-one/) [Robert Brault](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-brault/) > [Absolute is a game with only one player where Absolute forgets itself so it would have a reason to fulfill the motion while returning.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dejan-stojanovic/absolute-is-a-game-with-only-one-player-where-absolute-forgets-itself/) [Dejan Stojanovic](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dejan-stojanovic/) > [“Several times that day, the name or thought of Papa had come up. And each time, Francie had felt a flash of tenderness instead…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/betty-smith/several-times-that-day-the-name-or-thought-of-papa-had-come-up-and/) [Betty Smith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/betty-smith/) > [“It's my fault. I am forgetting too much.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/margaret-atwood/it-s-my-fault-i-am-forgetting-too-much/) [Margaret Atwood](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/margaret-atwood/) > [Falling out of love is chiefly a matter of forgetting how charming someone is.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/iris-murdoch/falling-out-of-love-is-chiefly-a-matter-of-forgetting-how-charming/) [Iris Murdoch](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/iris-murdoch/) > [“She's sure, absolutely sure, that what she's waiting for will happen, just the way she wants it to; and I'm so uncertain, so fearful…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lois-lowry/she-s-sure-absolutely-sure-that-what-she-s-waiting-for-will-happen/) [Lois Lowry](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lois-lowry/) > [Im afraid of being forgotten. Because, it seems everyone I get close to, ends up forgetting me.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/arcine-arciniegas/im-afraid-of-being-forgotten-because-it-seems-everyone-i-get-close-to/) [Arcine Arciniegas](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/arcine-arciniegas/) > [“Keeping histories is as much about knowing what needs forgetting as what ought to be remembered.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/leah-bobet/keeping-histories-is-as-much-about-knowing-what-needs-forgetting-as/) [Leah Bobet](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/leah-bobet/) > [“Forgetting is what nature does best. The universe is a huge forgetting machine. It erases information no matter how hard we try to hang…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carolyn-ives-gilman/forgetting-is-what-nature-does-best-the-universe-is-a-huge-forgetting/) Carolyn Ives Gilman > [“Who was it said, ‘We forget because we must’? He was right.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/l-m-montgomery/who-was-it-said-we-forget-because-we-must-he-was-right/) [L.M. Montgomery](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/l-m-montgomery/) > [Moving on isnt forgetting the past, its learning from it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/moving-on-isnt-forgetting-the-past-its-learning-from-it/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) [Browse all 1,010 Forgetting quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/forgetting/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“But how can you stop people remembering things?’ cried Winston, again momentarily forgetting the dial. ‘It is involuntary. It is outside oneself. How can you control memory? 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