--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: If both the past and the external world…" description: "\"If both the past and the external world exist only in the mind, and if the mind itself is controllable - what then?\" — George Orwell" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f73/george-orwell-57_mind_if-both-the-past-and-the-external-world_1510327.jpg" --- # If both the past and the external world exist only in the… ![“If both the past and the external world exist only in the mind, and if the mind itself is controllable - what then?” quote by George Orwell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f73/george-orwell-57_mind_if-both-the-past-and-the-external-world_1510327.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f73/george-orwell-57_mind_if-both-the-past-and-the-external-world_1510327.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f73/george-orwell-57_mind_if-both-the-past-and-the-external-world_1510327.jpg) > “If both the past and the external world exist only in the mind, and if the mind itself is controllable - what then?” [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. If reality exists only in perception and the mind can be controlled, then reality becomes subjective and malleable. **In simple terms:** Reality is mental; control changes it. Key Takeaway Question your assumptions about control. Themes philosophy perception control reality mind Mood thoughtful inquisitive Type philosophical reflective When to use this quote - personal introspection - psychology - meditation - decision making Key Concepts subjectivism determinism free will Questions to Reflect On - How does perceived control affect responsibility? - Can shared reality exist without a mind? A Different Perspective The claim ignores external constraints and shared reality. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Consciousness](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/consciousness/) [External world](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/external-world/) [Mind](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/mind/) [Past](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/past/) [Psychology](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/psychology/) [Time](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/time/) [World](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/world/) ## Related quotes > [For, after all, how do we know that two and two make four? Or that the force of gravity works? Or that the past…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-orwell/for-after-all-how-do-we-know-that-two-and-two-make-four-or-that-the/) [George Orwell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-orwell/) > [“The heresy of heresies was common sense. And what was terrifying was not that they would kill you for thinking otherwise, but that they…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-orwell/the-heresy-of-heresies-was-common-sense-and-what-was-terrifying-was-2/) [George Orwell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-orwell/) > [“In the end the Party would announce that two and two made five, and you would have to believe it. It was inevitable that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-orwell/in-the-end-the-party-would-announce-that-two-and-two-made-five-and/) [George Orwell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-orwell/) > [“Most of our problems exist in our mind & not in actuality. Care to share with someone you love, and you will find a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/akansh-malik/most-of-our-problems-exist-in-our-mind-not-in-actuality-care-to-share/) [Akansh Malik](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/akansh-malik/) > [Never try to stop the thoughts. If you try to stop the thoughts they will become bigger and greater and they will win. Because…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-adams/never-try-to-stop-the-thoughts-if-you-try-to-stop-the-thoughts-they/) [Robert Adams](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-adams/) > [Fictional characters exist in only two places, neither of which is on the printed page. They exist, first, in the mind of the writer…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/maren-elwood/fictional-characters-exist-in-only-two-places-neither-of-which-is-on/) [Maren Elwood](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/maren-elwood/) > [The rules of life are made up. The rules only exist in your mind.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jason-mraz/the-rules-of-life-are-made-up-the-rules-only-exist-in-your-mind/) [Jason Mraz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jason-mraz/) > [“The law of gravity and gravity itself did not exist before Isaac Newton." ...and what that means is that that law of gravity exists…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-m-pirsig/the-law-of-gravity-and-gravity-itself-did-not-exist-before-isaac/) [Robert M. Pirsig](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-m-pirsig/) > [You can conquer almost any fear if you will only make up your mind to do so. For remember, fear doesn't exist anywhere except…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dale-carnegie/you-can-conquer-almost-any-fear-if-you-will-only-make-up-your-mind-to/) [Dale Carnegie](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dale-carnegie/) > [Limits exist only in the mind](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aristotle/limits-exist-only-in-the-mind/) [Aristotle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aristotle/) > [“Whether on the level of no analysis or with analysis, it is never justified that mind exists whereas form does not exist. Under analysis,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/karl-brunnholzl/whether-on-the-level-of-no-analysis-or-with-analysis-it-is-never/) [Karl Brunnholzl](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/karl-brunnholzl/) > [To a Buddhist, contradictions only exist in a mind that has been forced to cultivate them.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-burdett/to-a-buddhist-contradictions-only-exist-in-a-mind-that-has-been/) [John Burdett](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-burdett/) > [“The world exists because your mind exists. If your mind didn’t exist, there would be no world. As you look at these words, you…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joseph-p-kauffman/the-world-exists-because-your-mind-exists-if-your-mind-didn-t-exist/) [Joseph P. Kauffman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joseph-p-kauffman/) > [“Happiness has to exist in the mind before it can exist in life”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lorin-morgan-richards/happiness-has-to-exist-in-the-mind-before-it-can-exist-in-life/) [Lorin Morgan-Richards](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lorin-morgan-richards/) > [The bonds that unite another person to our self exist only in our mind.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marcel-proust/the-bonds-that-unite-another-person-to-our-self-exist-only-in-our-mind/) [Marcel Proust](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marcel-proust/) ## 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 Consciousness quotes > [“You're never alone if you're with your soul.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gerard-armond-powell/you-re-never-alone-if-you-re-with-your-soul/) [Gerard Armond Powell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gerard-armond-powell/) > [“I now argue that entry into Upper Palaeolithic caves was probably seen as virtually indistinguishable from entry into the mental vortex that leads to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-david-lewis-williams/i-now-argue-that-entry-into-upper-palaeolithic-caves-was-probably/) [James David Lewis-Williams](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-david-lewis-williams/) > [How wonderful it would be to scatter words as they rise to consciousness, to let them lie where they fall.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joanna-scott/how-wonderful-it-would-be-to-scatter-words-as-they-rise-to/) [Joanna Scott](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joanna-scott/) > [“People and situations always show us what we need to see and learn about ourselves, and when we take responsibility for our own feelings,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eliza-mada-dalian/people-and-situations-always-show-us-what-we-need-to-see-and-learn/) [Eliza Mada Dalian](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eliza-mada-dalian/) > [With the realization of God comes all power. If the little wave knew that behind it is the great ocean, it could say, "I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paramahansa-yogananda/with-the-realization-of-god-comes-all-power-if-the-little-wave-knew/) [Paramahansa Yogananda](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paramahansa-yogananda/) > [We do not want to be reminded that it is we, the indigenous people, who are poor and exploited in the land of our…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/steven-biko/we-do-not-want-to-be-reminded-that-it-is-we-the-indigenous-people-who/) [Steven Biko](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/steven-biko/) > [It is proposed that a form of free dialogue may well be one of the most effective ways of investigating the crisis which faces…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-bohm/it-is-proposed-that-a-form-of-free-dialogue-may-well-be-one-of-the/) [David Bohm](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-bohm/) > [“Entropy is the normal state of consciousness—a condition that is neither useful nor enjoyable. To avoid this condition, people are naturally eager to fill…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mihaly-csikszentmihalyi/entropy-is-the-normal-state-of-consciousness-a-condition-that-is/) [Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mihaly-csikszentmihalyi/) > [The purpose is to be in gratitude forever. Live with applied consciousness, prosperity will break through the walls, flood you with it. You do…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/harbhajan-singh-yogi/the-purpose-is-to-be-in-gratitude-forever-live-with-applied/) [Harbhajan Singh Yogi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/harbhajan-singh-yogi/) > [“No one has any right to tell you that the way you perceive yourself is wrong. Because by doing so, they also discourage the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kamand-kojouri/no-one-has-any-right-to-tell-you-that-the-way-you-perceive-yourself/) [Kamand Kojouri](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kamand-kojouri/) > [A language possesses utility only insofar as it can construct conventional boundaries. A language of no boundaries is no language at all, and thus…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ken-wilber/a-language-possesses-utility-only-insofar-as-it-can-construct/) [Ken Wilber](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ken-wilber/) > [So many people are passive participants in their very short time of having a consciousness, and those who aren't inspire me. Like Malala Yousafzai…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dylan-gelulla/so-many-people-are-passive-participants-in-their-very-short-time-of/) Dylan Gelulla > [Floating in and out of consciousness...](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/drake/floating-in-and-out-of-consciousness/) [Drake](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/drake/) > [“The vision teller tells the vision to unguarded minds' of prey. The programmed.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/t-f-hodge/the-vision-teller-tells-the-vision-to-unguarded-minds-of-prey-the/) [T.F. Hodge](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/t-f-hodge/) > [Human freedom involves our capacity to pause between the stimulus and response and, in that pause, to choose the one response toward which we…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rollo-may/human-freedom-involves-our-capacity-to-pause-between-the-stimulus-and/) [Rollo May](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rollo-may/) [Browse all 6,062 Consciousness quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/consciousness/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "If both the past and the external world exist only in the mind, and if the mind itself is controllable - what then?", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "George Orwell" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-orwell/if-both-the-past-and-the-external-world-exist-only-in-the-mind-and-if/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Consciousness" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-orwell/if-both-the-past-and-the-external-world-exist-only-in-the-mind-and-if/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f73/george-orwell-57_mind_if-both-the-past-and-the-external-world_1510327.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f73/george-orwell-57_mind_if-both-the-past-and-the-external-world_1510327.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f73/george-orwell-57_mind_if-both-the-past-and-the-external-world_1510327.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“If both the past and the external world exist only in the mind, and if the mind itself is controllable…” — 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": "If both the past and the...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-orwell/if-both-the-past-and-the-external-world-exist-only-in-the-mind-and-if/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-orwell/if-both-the-past-and-the-external-world-exist-only-in-the-mind-and-if/#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 } } ] } ```