---
title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: I watched him [a 'fat Russian agent']…"
description: "\"I watched him [a 'fat Russian agent'] with some interest, for it was the first time that I had seen a person whose profession was telling lies -- unles..."
image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/efa/george-orwell-57_agents_i-watched-him-a-fat-russian-agent-with-s_1136513.jpg"
---

#  I watched him \[a 'fat Russian agent'\] with some interest…

![“I watched him &#91;a 'fat Russian agent'&#93; with some interest, for it was the first time that I had seen a person whose profession was telling lies -- unless one counts journalists.” quote by George Orwell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/efa/george-orwell-57_agents_i-watched-him-a-fat-russian-agent-with-s_1136513.jpg)   [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/efa/george-orwell-57_agents_i-watched-him-a-fat-russian-agent-with-s_1136513.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/efa/george-orwell-57_agents_i-watched-him-a-fat-russian-agent-with-s_1136513.jpg)

> “I watched him \[a 'fat Russian agent'\] with some interest, for it was the first time that I had seen a person whose profession was telling lies -- unless one counts journalists.”

[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 narrator observes that lying is a profession, implying journalists share this trait, blurring truth and falsehood.

**In simple terms:** Lying is a job for some, including journalists.

Key Takeaway

Question truth sources critically.

Themes

media criticism truth journalism

Mood

critical inquisitive

Type

philosophical political

When to use this quote

- news consumption
- political discourse
- media literacy

Key Concepts

propaganda ethical ambiguity

Questions to Reflect On

- How do you verify information?
- What responsibilities do journalists have?

A Different Perspective

Not all journalists lie; many uphold truth.

★ ★ ★ ★ ★   No ratings yet

[Interest](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/interest/) [Journalist](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/journalist/) [Lies](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/lies/) [Lying](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/lying/) [Profession](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/profession/) [Telling lies](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/telling-lies/)

## Related quotes

> [I don't concede that Guccifer is a Russian agent. Officials also said, that Saddam Hussein had weapons of mass destruction. Just because the intelligence…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/roger-stone/i-don-t-concede-that-guccifer-is-a-russian-agent-officials-also-said/)

[Roger Stone](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/roger-stone/)

> [“Personally, nothing would surprise me any more. If my father announced that he was really a Russian agent or my mother ran away with…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sue-townsend/personally-nothing-would-surprise-me-any-more-if-my-father-announced/)

[Sue Townsend](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sue-townsend/)

> [Is not anyone with any degree of mental honesty conscious of telling lies all day long, both in talking and writing, simply because lies…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-orwell/is-not-anyone-with-any-degree-of-mental-honesty-conscious-of-telling/)

[George Orwell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-orwell/)

> [ “\[I\]t struck me how easy it is to bamboozle an uneducated audience if you have prepared beforehand a set of repartees with which to… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-orwell/i-t-struck-me-how-easy-it-is-to-bamboozle-an-uneducated-audience-if/)

[George Orwell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-orwell/)

> [“The controversy over freedom of speech and of the press is at bottom a controversy of the desirability, or otherwise, of telling lies. What…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-orwell/the-controversy-over-freedom-of-speech-and-of-the-press-is-at-bottom/)

[George Orwell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-orwell/)

> [I'm fat, but I'm thin inside. Has it ever struck you that there's a thin man inside every fat man, just as they say…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-orwell/i-m-fat-but-i-m-thin-inside-has-it-ever-struck-you-that-there-s-a/)

[George Orwell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-orwell/)

> [Never telling lies, helps you never to believe them.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sigz/never-telling-lies-helps-you-never-to-believe-them/)

[Sigz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sigz/)

> [If the Republicans will stop telling lies about the Democrats, we will stop telling the truth about them.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/adlai-e-stevenson/if-the-republicans-will-stop-telling-lies-about-the-democrats-we-will/)

[Adlai E. Stevenson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/adlai-e-stevenson/)

> [I love you, and because I love you, I would sooner have you hate me for telling you the truth than adore me for…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pietro-aretino/i-love-you-and-because-i-love-you-i-would-sooner-have-you-hate-me-for/)

[Pietro Aretino](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pietro-aretino/)

> [Your very eyes. How they have always been for me the command to obey, the inviolable and beautiful commandment. No, no, I'm not telling…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-walser/your-very-eyes-how-they-have-always-been-for-me-the-command-to-obey/)

[Robert Walser](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-walser/)

> [A lot of people live by telling lies. I live by telling the truth.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/boosie/a-lot-of-people-live-by-telling-lies-i-live-by-telling-the-truth/)

[Boosie](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/boosie/)

> [It was a lie but he believed in telling lies to people. Truth telling and medicine just didn't go together except in dire emergencies,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mario-puzo/it-was-a-lie-but-he-believed-in-telling-lies-to-people-truth-telling/)

[Mario Puzo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mario-puzo/)

> [Telling lies is a bit like tiling bathrooms - if you don't know how to do it properly, it's best not to try.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tom-holt/telling-lies-is-a-bit-like-tiling-bathrooms-if-you-don-t-know-how-to/)

[Tom Holt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tom-holt/)

> [A man should be jailed for telling lies to the young.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lillian-hellman/a-man-should-be-jailed-for-telling-lies-to-the-young/)

[Lillian Hellman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lillian-hellman/)

> [Telling me lies is easier for you than to tell me the truth? Well me not trusting you is easier than getting hurt by…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/telling-me-lies-is-easier-for-you-than-to-tell-me-the-truth-well-me/)

[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 Agents quotes

> [The image of blacks usually is one of people who are suffering from hunger, unemployment, and poverty. The idea of them as agents and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/grace-lee-boggs/the-image-of-blacks-usually-is-one-of-people-who-are-suffering-from/)

[Grace Lee Boggs](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/grace-lee-boggs/)

> [ I don't see \[ Trainspotting \] as an albatross, I see it more as a calling card. It's got me out to Hollywood, I've… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/irvine-welsh/i-don-t-see-trainspotting-as-an-albatross-i-see-it-more-as-a-calling/)

[Irvine Welsh](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/irvine-welsh/)

> [Our attitude towards evil must be freed from hatred, and has itself need to be enlightened in character...Satan rejoices when he succeeds in inspiring…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nikolai-berdyaev/our-attitude-towards-evil-must-be-freed-from-hatred-and-has-itself/)

[Nikolai Berdyaev](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nikolai-berdyaev/)

> [We are coming to a place where the road ends. From here on out, we will be making the road as we walk it,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tom-atlee/we-are-coming-to-a-place-where-the-road-ends-from-here-on-out-we-will/)

Tom Atlee

> [Love is the supreme form of communication. In the hierarchy of needs, love stands as the supreme developing agent of the humanity of the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ashley-montagu/love-is-the-supreme-form-of-communication-in-the-hierarchy-of-needs/)

[Ashley Montagu](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ashley-montagu/)

> [I have always believed that women are not victims, we are agents of change, we are drivers of progress, we are makers of peace…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hillary-clinton/i-have-always-believed-that-women-are-not-victims-we-are-agents-of/)

[Hillary Clinton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hillary-clinton/)

> [Many American TV actors employ agents, managers, business managers, publicists and stylists, and are now adding digital media manager to the list. Their job…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gina-bellman/many-american-tv-actors-employ-agents-managers-business-managers/)

[Gina Bellman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gina-bellman/)

> [The ultimate goal of radical politics is gradually to displace the limit of social exclusions, empowering the excluded agents (sexual and ethnic minorities) by…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/slavoj-i-ek/the-ultimate-goal-of-radical-politics-is-gradually-to-displace-the/)

[Slavoj Žižek](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/slavoj-i-ek/)

> [In politics we face the choice between warmongering, nation-state loving, big-business agents on one hand; and risk-blind, top-down, epistemic arrogant big servants of large…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nassim-nicholas-taleb/in-politics-we-face-the-choice-between-warmongering-nation-state/)

[Nassim Nicholas Taleb](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nassim-nicholas-taleb/)

> [My first job was a film called 'Storm Damage' for the BBC. I was 16 and working with really respected British actors. I didn't…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ashley-madekwe/my-first-job-was-a-film-called-storm-damage-for-the-bbc-i-was-16-and/)

[Ashley Madekwe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ashley-madekwe/)

> [Government is the agent of those who are too refined to do their own mugging.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joseph-sobran/government-is-the-agent-of-those-who-are-too-refined-to-do-their-own/)

[Joseph Sobran](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joseph-sobran/)

> [While much of modern behavioral and social science treats individuals as autonomous agents, it is absolutely clear that the way we think and act…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-r-nelson/while-much-of-modern-behavioral-and-social-science-treats-individuals/)

Richard R. Nelson

> [People went out there and they wrote articles and went on television shows saying that I am an operative that the CIA who used…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bassem-youssef/people-went-out-there-and-they-wrote-articles-and-went-on-television/)

[Bassem Youssef](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bassem-youssef/)

> [The chief beneficiary of life insurance policies for young, single people is the life insurance agent.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wes-smith/the-chief-beneficiary-of-life-insurance-policies-for-young-single/)

[Wes Smith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wes-smith/)

> [“Honestly,” he says, “I judge writers on how they write queries. If you’re a good writer, you’re a good writer.” And if not, then…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/keith-gessen/honestly-he-says-i-judge-writers-on-how-they-write-queries-if-you-re/)

[Keith Gessen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/keith-gessen/)

Browse all 1,567 Agents quotes

```json
{
    "@context": "https://schema.org",
    "@graph": [
        {
            "@type": "Quotation",
            "text": "I watched him [a 'fat Russian agent'] with some interest, for it was the first time that I had seen a person whose profession was telling lies -- unless one counts journalists.",
            "creator": {
                "@type": "Person",
                "name": "George Orwell"
            },
            "isPartOf": {
                "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website"
            },
            "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-orwell/i-watched-him-a-fat-russian-agent-with-some-interest-for-it-was-the/",
            "about": {
                "@type": "Thing",
                "name": "Agents"
            },
            "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-orwell/i-watched-him-a-fat-russian-agent-with-some-interest-for-it-was-the/#quotation",
            "image": {
                "@type": "ImageObject",
                "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/efa/george-orwell-57_agents_i-watched-him-a-fat-russian-agent-with-s_1136513.jpg",
                "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/efa/george-orwell-57_agents_i-watched-him-a-fat-russian-agent-with-s_1136513.jpg",
                "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/efa/george-orwell-57_agents_i-watched-him-a-fat-russian-agent-with-s_1136513.jpg",
                "width": 1080,
                "height": 1080,
                "caption": "“I watched him [a 'fat Russian agent'] with some interest, for it was the first time that I had seen a person…” — 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": "I watched him [a 'fat Russian...",
                    "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-orwell/i-watched-him-a-fat-russian-agent-with-some-interest-for-it-was-the/"
                }
            ],
            "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-orwell/i-watched-him-a-fat-russian-agent-with-some-interest-for-it-was-the/#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
            }
        }
    ]
}
```
