--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: He would read King Lear and forget this…" description: "\"“He would read King Lear and forget this filthy century.”\" — George Orwell" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f9b/george-orwell-57_king-lear_he-would-read-king-lear-and-forget-this_1444492.jpg" --- # He would read King Lear and forget this filthy century. ![“He would read King Lear and forget this filthy century.” quote by George Orwell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f9b/george-orwell-57_king-lear_he-would-read-king-lear-and-forget-this_1444492.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f9b/george-orwell-57_king-lear_he-would-read-king-lear-and-forget-this_1444492.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f9b/george-orwell-57_king-lear_he-would-read-king-lear-and-forget-this_1444492.jpg) > ““He would read King Lear and forget this filthy century.”” [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. Immersive literature offers escape from harsh contemporary reality, highlighting the power of classic works. **In simple terms:** Reading classics provides escape. Key Takeaway Use literature to gain perspective. Themes escape literature timelessness reflection Mood contemplative melancholic Type literary philosophical When to use this quote - stressful work - political turmoil - personal grief Key Concepts cultural critique psychological relief Questions to Reflect On - Which classic offers you solace? - How does it change your view of today? A Different Perspective Escapism may avoid confronting present issues. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Filthy Century](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/filthy-century-5177749/) [Forget Filthy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/forget-filthy-5177748/) [King Lear](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/king-lear/) [Lear](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/lear/) [Lear Forget](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/lear-forget-5177747/) ## Related quotes > [If you are playing King Lear you are the centre of attention anyway. You don't need to draw attention to yourself. It's all laid…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ian-mckellen/if-you-are-playing-king-lear-you-are-the-centre-of-attention-anyway/) [Ian Mckellen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ian-mckellen/) > [It isn't difficult to leave King Lear or Macbeth, but once you have gone back to yourself, you want it to be the same…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-scofield/it-isn-t-difficult-to-leave-king-lear-or-macbeth-but-once-you-have/) [Paul Scofield](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-scofield/) > [I would like to do 'King Lear.' But I would like to do it in Swedish.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/max-von-sydow/i-would-like-to-do-king-lear-but-i-would-like-to-do-it-in-swedish/) [Max von Sydow](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/max-von-sydow/) > [Hegel seems to me to be always wanting to say that things which look different are really the same. Whereas my interest is in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ludwig-wittgenstein/hegel-seems-to-me-to-be-always-wanting-to-say-that-things-which-look/) [Ludwig Wittgenstein](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ludwig-wittgenstein/) > [When I closed in "King Lear" I went into a period of depression for about three weeks, and every actor I've talked to who's…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frank-langella/when-i-closed-in-king-lear-i-went-into-a-period-of-depression-for/) [Frank Langella](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frank-langella/) > [I think William Shakespeare's like a passport through your life: as a kid hearing about a play with fairies or witches or ghosts, you…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gregory-doran/i-think-william-shakespeare-s-like-a-passport-through-your-life-as-a/) [Gregory Doran](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gregory-doran/) > [I guess if they ever do a remake of 'Sophie's Choice,' I could play the Meryl Streep part. I've got to work on my…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gilbert-gottfried/i-guess-if-they-ever-do-a-remake-of-sophie-s-choice-i-could-play-the/) [Gilbert Gottfried](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gilbert-gottfried/) > [I did a lot of theatre when I started out. It was the Lyceum, the Citz, the Tron and the Traverse. I came to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ashley-jensen/i-did-a-lot-of-theatre-when-i-started-out-it-was-the-lyceum-the-citz/) [Ashley Jensen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ashley-jensen/) > [Young screenwriters are always very frustrated when they talk to me. They say, 'How do we get to be a screenwriter?' I say, 'You…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-logan/young-screenwriters-are-always-very-frustrated-when-they-talk-to-me/) [John Logan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-logan/) > [When King Lear dies in act five, do you know what Shakespeare has written? He has written, 'He dies.' No more. No fanfare, no…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/suzanne-weyn/when-king-lear-dies-in-act-five-do-you-know-what-shakespeare-has/) [Suzanne Weyn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/suzanne-weyn/) > [I used to think 'King Lear' was an analysis of insanity, but I don't really think it is. When Lear is supposed to be…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ian-mckellen/i-used-to-think-king-lear-was-an-analysis-of-insanity-but-i-don-t/) [Ian Mckellen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ian-mckellen/) > [I have three daughters and I find as a result I played King Lear almost without rehearsal.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/peter-ustinov/i-have-three-daughters-and-i-find-as-a-result-i-played-king-lear/) [Peter Ustinov](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/peter-ustinov/) > [It's difficult for most people to imagine the creative process in tennis. Seemingly it's just an athletic matter of hitting the ball consistently well…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/virginia-wade/it-s-difficult-for-most-people-to-imagine-the-creative-process-in/) [Virginia Wade](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/virginia-wade/) > [“No matter how many times we read "King Lear," never shall we find the good king banging his tankard in high revelry, all woes…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/vladimir-nabokov/no-matter-how-many-times-we-read-king-lear-never-shall-we-find-the/) [Vladimir Nabokov](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/vladimir-nabokov/) > [King Lear by William Shakespeare frightens me. I've never done King Lear, I guess partially because my father dwindled into dementia in his last…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gregory-doran/king-lear-by-william-shakespeare-frightens-me-i-ve-never-done-king/) [Gregory Doran](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gregory-doran/) ## 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 Lear quotes > [Is man no more than this? Consider him well. Thou ow'st the worm no silk, the beast no hide, the sheep no wool, the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-shakespeare/is-man-no-more-than-this-consider-him-well-thou-ow-st-the-worm-no/) [William Shakespeare](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-shakespeare/) > [I consider myself a disciple of Norman Lear. And one of the things he did was topic-driven humor.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kenya-barris/i-consider-myself-a-disciple-of-norman-lear-and-one-of-the-things-he/) [Kenya Barris](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kenya-barris/) > [If you are playing King Lear you are the centre of attention anyway. You don't need to draw attention to yourself. It's all laid…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ian-mckellen/if-you-are-playing-king-lear-you-are-the-centre-of-attention-anyway/) [Ian Mckellen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ian-mckellen/) > [“No matter how many times we read "King Lear," never shall we find the good king banging his tankard in high revelry, all woes…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/vladimir-nabokov/no-matter-how-many-times-we-read-king-lear-never-shall-we-find-the/) [Vladimir Nabokov](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/vladimir-nabokov/) > [Thou whoreson zed! Thou unnecessary letter! My lord, if you will give me leave, I will tread this unbolted villain into mortar, and daub…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-shakespeare/thou-whoreson-zed-thou-unnecessary-letter-my-lord-if-you-will-give-me/) [William Shakespeare](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-shakespeare/) > [ After we did \[All In The Family\], that ended up being a real love fest all around. Me and Norman, Norman \[Lear\] and me,… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-masur/after-we-did-all-in-the-family-that-ended-up-being-a-real-love-fest/) [Richard Masur](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-masur/) > [“All's well that ends well.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/all-s-well-that-ends-well/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [The Only Way To Have Peace is To Teach Peach… ¥](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/the-only-way-to-have-peace-is-to-teach-peach/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [Grant me an old man's frenzy, Myself must I remake Till I am Timon and Lear Or that William Blake Who beat upon the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-butler-yeats/grant-me-an-old-man-s-frenzy-myself-must-i-remake-till-i-am-timon-and/) [William Butler Yeats](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-butler-yeats/) > [It's difficult for most people to imagine the creative process in tennis. Seemingly it's just an athletic matter of hitting the ball consistently well…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/virginia-wade/it-s-difficult-for-most-people-to-imagine-the-creative-process-in/) [Virginia Wade](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/virginia-wade/) > [I have three daughters and I find as a result I played King Lear almost without rehearsal.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/peter-ustinov/i-have-three-daughters-and-i-find-as-a-result-i-played-king-lear/) [Peter Ustinov](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/peter-ustinov/) > [When I was growing up my favorite show was 'The Mary Tyler Moore Show', and I loved all the stuff that Norman Lear did.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ryan-murphy/when-i-was-growing-up-my-favorite-show-was-the-mary-tyler-moore-show/) [Ryan Murphy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ryan-murphy/) > [I would love to be remembered as one of the greatest Lears or Hamlets.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/roger-moore/i-would-love-to-be-remembered-as-one-of-the-greatest-lears-or-hamlets/) [Roger Moore](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/roger-moore/) > [Norman Lear was talking about everything in the '70s... race, sexism, all of it. The network comedy really stayed away from that in the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nahnatchka-khan/norman-lear-was-talking-about-everything-in-the-70s-race-sexism-all/) [Nahnatchka Khan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nahnatchka-khan/) > [“Anii mei tineri au sunat a cântec, dar am trecut pe lângă ei şi am rămas cu mâna-ntinsă, ca a regelui Lear.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ionel-teodoreanu/anii-mei-tineri-au-sunat-a-c-ntec-dar-am-trecut-pe-l-ng-ei-i-am-r-mas/) [Ionel Teodoreanu](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ionel-teodoreanu/) [Browse all 144 Lear quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/lear/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“He would read King Lear and forget this filthy century.”", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "George Orwell" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-orwell/he-would-read-king-lear-and-forget-this-filthy-century/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Lear" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-orwell/he-would-read-king-lear-and-forget-this-filthy-century/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f9b/george-orwell-57_king-lear_he-would-read-king-lear-and-forget-this_1444492.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f9b/george-orwell-57_king-lear_he-would-read-king-lear-and-forget-this_1444492.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f9b/george-orwell-57_king-lear_he-would-read-king-lear-and-forget-this_1444492.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“He would read King Lear and forget this filthy century.” — 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": "“He would read King Lear and...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-orwell/he-would-read-king-lear-and-forget-this-filthy-century/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-orwell/he-would-read-king-lear-and-forget-this-filthy-century/#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 } } ] } ```