---
title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: * *Do remember that dishonesty and…"
description: "\"“* *Do remember that dishonesty and cowardice always have to be paid for.*Don’t imagine that for years on end you can make yourself the boot-licking pr..."
image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/504/george-orwell-57_cowardice_do-remember-that-dishonesty-and-cowardic_251545.jpg"
---

#  \* \*Do remember that dishonesty and cowardice always have…

![“&#42; &#42;Do remember that dishonesty and cowardice always have to be paid for.&#42;Don’t imagine that for years on end you can make yourself the boot-licking propagandist of the Soviet régime, or any other régime, and then suddenly return to mental decency. Once a whore, always a whore.” quote by George Orwell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/504/george-orwell-57_cowardice_do-remember-that-dishonesty-and-cowardic_251545.jpg)   [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/504/george-orwell-57_cowardice_do-remember-that-dishonesty-and-cowardic_251545.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/504/george-orwell-57_cowardice_do-remember-that-dishonesty-and-cowardic_251545.jpg)

> ““\* \*Do remember that dishonesty and cowardice always have to be paid for.\*Don’t imagine that for years on end you can make yourself the boot-licking propagandist of the Soviet régime, or any other régime, and then suddenly return to mental decency. Once a whore, always a whore.””

[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.

Dishonesty and cowardice incur inevitable consequences; one cannot escape moral accountability by serving oppressive regimes.

**In simple terms:** Bad deeds have lasting costs.

Key Takeaway

Never betray your integrity.

Themes

ethics politics integrity

Mood

reflective serious

Type

cautionary philosophical

When to use this quote

- political activism
- personal redemption
- career changes
- public speaking

Key Concepts

moral responsibility political complicity

Questions to Reflect On

- Can one truly change after betraying values?
- How does society punish moral failures?

A Different Perspective

Even after serving a regime, regaining trust is extremely difficult.

★ ★ ★ ★ ★   No ratings yet

[Cowardice](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/cowardice/) [Cowardice Paid](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/cowardice-paid-2502009/) [Dishonesty](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/dishonesty/) [Dishonesty Cowardice](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/dishonesty-cowardice-2502007/) [Hypocrisy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/hypocrisy/) [Journalism](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/journalism/) [Poland](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/poland/) [Propagandist Soviet](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/propagandist-soviet-2502010/) [Remember Dishonesty](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/remember-dishonesty-2502008/) [Stalin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/stalin/) [Wwii](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/wwii/)

## Related quotes

> [Suspicious.- To admit a belief merely because it is a custom - but that means to be dishonest, cowardly, lazy! - And so could…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/friedrich-nietzsche/suspicious-to-admit-a-belief-merely-because-it-is-a-custom-but-that/)

[Friedrich Nietzsche](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/friedrich-nietzsche/)

> [“The Nazi and Soviet regimes turned people into numbers, some of which we can only estimate, some of which we can reconstruct with fair…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/timothy-snyder/the-nazi-and-soviet-regimes-turned-people-into-numbers-some-of-which/)

[Timothy Snyder](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/timothy-snyder/)

> [“How could a large land empire thrive and dominate in the modern world without reliable access to world markets and without much recourse to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/timothy-snyder/how-could-a-large-land-empire-thrive-and-dominate-in-the-modern-world/)

[Timothy Snyder](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/timothy-snyder/)

> [“Besides Getting my ass kicked, my main accomplishment on this trip has been to massacre an incredible number of completely innocent clothes. I'm the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-kadrey/besides-getting-my-ass-kicked-my-main-accomplishment-on-this-trip-has/)

[Richard Kadrey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-kadrey/)

> [N. S. Khrushchev established his supremacy in the U.S.S.R. after post-Stalinist alarums and excursions (1958-64). This admirable rough diamond, a believer in reform and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eric-hobsbawm/n-s-khrushchev-established-his-supremacy-in-the-u-s-s-r-after-post/)

[Eric Hobsbawm](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eric-hobsbawm/)

> [I have sworn before a picture of the old and mourned comrade Stalin that I won’t rest until I see these capitalist octopuses annihilated.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/che-guevara/i-have-sworn-before-a-picture-of-the-old-and-mourned-comrade-stalin/)

[Che Guevara](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/che-guevara/)

> [ In Stalin each \[Soviet bureaucrat\] easily finds himself. But Stalin also finds in each one a small part of his own spirit. Stalin is… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/leon-trotsky/in-stalin-each-soviet-bureaucrat-easily-finds-himself-but-stalin-also/)

[Leon Trotsky](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/leon-trotsky/)

> [“Once in power, Stalin’s campaign to succeed Lenin required a legitimate heroic career which he did not possess because of his experience in what…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/simon-sebag-montefiore/once-in-power-stalin-s-campaign-to-succeed-lenin-required-a/)

[Simon Sebag Montefiore](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/simon-sebag-montefiore/)

> ['Daddy used to be a Georgian,' Stalin's son, Vasily, once said. Actually, the dictator didn't truly become Russian; he remained Georgian culturally. Yet he…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/simon-sebag-montefiore/daddy-used-to-be-a-georgian-stalin-s-son-vasily-once-said-actually/)

[Simon Sebag Montefiore](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/simon-sebag-montefiore/)

> [The book that really, really shaped my politics and has forever is Arthur Koestler's "Darkness at Noon," which is a novel based on terrible…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nat-hentoff/the-book-that-really-really-shaped-my-politics-and-has-forever-is/)

[Nat Hentoff](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nat-hentoff/)

> [“To choose one's victims, to prepare one's plans minutely, to slake an implacable vengeance, and then to go to bed ... there is nothing…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-harris/to-choose-one-s-victims-to-prepare-one-s-plans-minutely-to-slake-an/)

[Robert Harris](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-harris/)

> [“Stalin is one of the most extraordinary figures in world history. He began as a small clerk, and he has never stopped being a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/adolf-hitler/stalin-is-one-of-the-most-extraordinary-figures-in-world-history-he/)

[Adolf Hitler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/adolf-hitler/)

> [“You are not that kind of man Pekkala. You are not the monster that your enemies once believed you to be. If you were,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sam-eastland/you-are-not-that-kind-of-man-pekkala-you-are-not-the-monster-that/)

[Sam Eastland](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sam-eastland/)

> [“Find the crime, Arkady thought: trying to kill Stalin or missing him.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/martin-cruz-smith/find-the-crime-arkady-thought-trying-to-kill-stalin-or-missing-him/)

[Martin Cruz Smith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/martin-cruz-smith/)

> [Stalin's methods did not help.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anastas-mikoyan/stalin-s-methods-did-not-help/)

[Anastas Mikoyan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anastas-mikoyan/)

## 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 Cowardice quotes

> [“What is cowardice in the young is wisdom in the old, but all the same one can be ashamed of wisdom.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/graham-greene/what-is-cowardice-in-the-young-is-wisdom-in-the-old-but-all-the-same/)

[Graham Greene](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/graham-greene/)

> [The unpreparedness of the educated classes, the lack of practical links between them and the mass of the people, their laziness, and, let it…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frantz-fanon/the-unpreparedness-of-the-educated-classes-the-lack-of-practical/)

[Frantz Fanon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frantz-fanon/)

> [ \[D\]on't grow old. With age comes caution, which is another name for cowardice… Whatever else you do in life, don't cultivate a conscience. Without… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hesketh-pearson/d-on-t-grow-old-with-age-comes-caution-which-is-another-name-for/)

[Hesketh Pearson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hesketh-pearson/)

> [Heckling is an act of cowardice. If you want to speak, get up in front of the microphone and speak, don't sit in the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/billy-connolly/heckling-is-an-act-of-cowardice-if-you-want-to-speak-get-up-in-front/)

[Billy Connolly](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/billy-connolly/)

> [“To stand at the very moment when all seems lost is the point of insanity for the coward, but it is the home of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/craig-d-lounsbrough/to-stand-at-the-very-moment-when-all-seems-lost-is-the-point-of/)

[Craig D. Lounsbrough](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/craig-d-lounsbrough/)

> [The biggest obstacles to our progress exist within our own lives in the form of cowardice and the tendency to give up. Breaking through…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/senora-roy/the-biggest-obstacles-to-our-progress-exist-within-our-own-lives-in/)

[Senora Roy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/senora-roy/)

> [“I once knew a man who was heir to the throne of a great kingdom, he lived as a ranger and fought his destiny…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/c-joybell-c/i-once-knew-a-man-who-was-heir-to-the-throne-of-a-great-kingdom-he/)

[C. JoyBell C](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/c-joybell-c/)

> [Is there cowardice with the acknowledgement of fear?](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/markus-zusak/is-there-cowardice-with-the-acknowledgement-of-fear/)

[Markus Zusak](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/markus-zusak/)

> [Man alone mesures time. And because of this, man alone suffers a paralyzing fear that no other creature endures. A fear of time running…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/man-alone-mesures-time-and-because-of-this-man-alone-suffers-a/)

[Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/)

> [With how many things are we on the brink of becoming acquainted, if cowardice or carelessness did not restrain our inquiries.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/with-how-many-things-are-we-on-the-brink-of-becoming-acquainted-if/)

[Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/)

> [“They are not brave, the days when we are twenty-one. They are full of little cowardices, little fears without foundation, and one is so…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/daphne-du-maurier/they-are-not-brave-the-days-when-we-are-twenty-one-they-are-full-of/)

[Daphne du Maurier](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/daphne-du-maurier/)

> [Survival, with honor, that outmoded and all-important word, is as difficult as ever and as all-important to a writer. Those who do not last…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ernest-hemingway/survival-with-honor-that-outmoded-and-all-important-word-is-as/)

[Ernest Hemingway](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ernest-hemingway/)

> [“People run away from the love game because they know they won't win the race.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-bassey-johnson/people-run-away-from-the-love-game-because-they-know-they-won-t-win/)

[Michael Bassey Johnson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-bassey-johnson/)

> [A man may be accused of cowardice for fleeing away from all manner of physical dangers but when things supernatural, insubstantial and inexplicable threaten…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/susan-hill/a-man-may-be-accused-of-cowardice-for-fleeing-away-from-all-manner-of/)

[Susan Hill](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/susan-hill/)

> [“Preparation eradicates cowardice, which we define as the failure to act in the midst of fear…”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/four-from-divergent/preparation-eradicates-cowardice-which-we-define-as-the-failure-to/)

[Four from Divergent](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/four-from-divergent/)

[Browse all 900 Cowardice quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/cowardice/)

```json
{
    "@context": "https://schema.org",
    "@graph": [
        {
            "@type": "Quotation",
            "text": "“* *Do remember that dishonesty and cowardice always have to be paid for.*Don’t imagine that for years on end you can make yourself the boot-licking propagandist of the Soviet régime, or any other régime, and then suddenly return to mental decency. Once a whore, always a whore.”",
            "creator": {
                "@type": "Person",
                "name": "George Orwell"
            },
            "isPartOf": {
                "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website"
            },
            "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-orwell/do-remember-that-dishonesty-and-cowardice-always-have-to-be-paid-for/",
            "about": {
                "@type": "Thing",
                "name": "Cowardice"
            },
            "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-orwell/do-remember-that-dishonesty-and-cowardice-always-have-to-be-paid-for/#quotation",
            "image": {
                "@type": "ImageObject",
                "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/504/george-orwell-57_cowardice_do-remember-that-dishonesty-and-cowardic_251545.jpg",
                "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/504/george-orwell-57_cowardice_do-remember-that-dishonesty-and-cowardic_251545.jpg",
                "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/504/george-orwell-57_cowardice_do-remember-that-dishonesty-and-cowardic_251545.jpg",
                "width": 1080,
                "height": 1080,
                "caption": "“* *Do remember that dishonesty and cowardice always have to be paid for.*Don’t imagine that for years on end…” — George Orwell",
                "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes",
                "creator": {
                    "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization"
                }
            }
        },
        {
            "@type": "BreadcrumbList",
            "itemListElement": [
                {
                    "@type": "ListItem",
                    "position": 1,
                    "name": "Home",
                    "item": "https://sms4smile.com/"
                },
                {
                    "@type": "ListItem",
                    "position": 2,
                    "name": "Quotes",
                    "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/"
                },
                {
                    "@type": "ListItem",
                    "position": 3,
                    "name": "George Orwell",
                    "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-orwell/"
                },
                {
                    "@type": "ListItem",
                    "position": 4,
                    "name": "“* *Do remember that dishonesty and...",
                    "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-orwell/do-remember-that-dishonesty-and-cowardice-always-have-to-be-paid-for/"
                }
            ],
            "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-orwell/do-remember-that-dishonesty-and-cowardice-always-have-to-be-paid-for/#breadcrumb"
        },
        {
            "@type": "WebSite",
            "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website",
            "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes",
            "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/",
            "publisher": {
                "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization"
            }
        },
        {
            "@type": "Organization",
            "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization",
            "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes",
            "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/",
            "logo": {
                "@type": "ImageObject",
                "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/themes/sq/assets/icons/icon-512.png",
                "width": 512,
                "height": 512
            }
        }
    ]
}
```
