--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: In the end the Party would announce that…" description: "\"“In the end the Party would announce that two and two made five, and you would have to believe it. It was inevitable that they should make that claim s..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/0f5/george-orwell-57_existence_in-the-end-the-party-would-announce-that_2394045.jpg" --- # In the end the Party would announce that two and two made… ![“In the end the Party would announce that two and two made five, and you would have to believe it. It was inevitable that they should make that claim sooner or later: the logic of their position demanded it. Not merely the validity of experience, but the very existence of external reality, was…” quote by George Orwell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/0f5/george-orwell-57_existence_in-the-end-the-party-would-announce-that_2394045.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/0f5/george-orwell-57_existence_in-the-end-the-party-would-announce-that_2394045.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/0f5/george-orwell-57_existence_in-the-end-the-party-would-announce-that_2394045.jpg) > ““In the end the Party would announce that two and two made five, and you would have to believe it. It was inevitable that they should make that claim sooner or later: the logic of their position demanded it. Not merely the validity of experience, but the very existence of external reality, was tacitly denied by their philosophy. The heresy of heresies was common sense. And what was terrifying was not that they would kill you for thinking otherwise, but that they might be right. For, after all, how do we know that two and two make four? Or that the force of gravity works? Or that the past is unchangeable? 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. The regime forces acceptance of false truths, undermining objective reality and making belief in propaganda inevitable. **In simple terms:** A totalitarian state makes you accept lies as truth. Key Takeaway Question reality and resist manipulation. Themes totalitarianism truth reality mind control philosophy Mood anxious defiant thoughtful Type cautionary philosophical political When to use this quote - education - political activism - media literacy - psychological resilience Key Concepts epistemology political power psychology ideology Questions to Reflect On - How do you verify truth in a controlled society? - What safeguards protect objective reality? A Different Perspective Resistance requires critical thinking and evidence, not just belief. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Existence](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/existence/) [Philosophy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/philosophy/) [Sooner or later](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/sooner-or-later/) ## Related quotes > [“Not merely the validity of experience, but the very existence of external reality, was tacitly denied by their philosophy. 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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/) > [If both the past and the external world exist only in the mind, and if the mind itself is controllable - what then?](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-orwell/if-both-the-past-and-the-external-world-exist-only-in-the-mind-and-if/) [George Orwell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-orwell/) > [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/) > [“there’s no such thing as brown light! The color brown doesn’t exist in the external reality, but only in your internal reality: it’s simply…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/max-tegmark/there-s-no-such-thing-as-brown-light-the-color-brown-doesn-t-exist-in/) [Max Tegmark](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/max-tegmark/) > [In our constant search for meaning in this baffling and temporary existence, trapped as we are within our three pounds of neurons, it is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alan-lightman/in-our-constant-search-for-meaning-in-this-baffling-and-temporary/) [Alan Lightman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alan-lightman/) > [External reality is sort of an affectation of the nervous system.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jaron-lanier/external-reality-is-sort-of-an-affectation-of-the-nervous-system/) [Jaron Lanier](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jaron-lanier/) > [To live fully, outwardly and inwardly, not to ignore the external reality for the sake of the inner life, or the reverse, that's quite…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/etty-hillesum/to-live-fully-outwardly-and-inwardly-not-to-ignore-the-external/) [Etty Hillesum](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/etty-hillesum/) > [“art is a meditation upon external reality rather than a representation of external reality”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/donald-barthelme/art-is-a-meditation-upon-external-reality-rather-than-a/) [Donald Barthelme](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/donald-barthelme/) > [Waking consciousness is dreaming – but dreaming constrained by external reality](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/oliver-sacks/waking-consciousness-is-dreaming-but-dreaming-constrained-by-external/) [Oliver Sacks](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/oliver-sacks/) > [ “Moreover, how effective can it possibly be for an individual to assert his autonomy \[jishusei\] when encountering a reality in which even his personal… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/abe-kobo/moreover-how-effective-can-it-possibly-be-for-an-individual-to-assert/) [Abe Kobo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/abe-kobo/) > [“Why would our brains have this capacity to sense the oneness of the universe, a sense that can be induced in many ways, even…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kara-dalkey/why-would-our-brains-have-this-capacity-to-sense-the-oneness-of-the/) [Kara Dalkey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kara-dalkey/) > [“the challenge for physics is deriving the consensus reality from the external reality, and the challenge for cognitive science is to derive the internal…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/max-tegmark/the-challenge-for-physics-is-deriving-the-consensus-reality-from-the/) [Max Tegmark](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/max-tegmark/) ## 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. 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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 Existence quotes > [Getting on the cover of TIME guarantees the existence of opposition in the future.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-kenneth-galbraith/getting-on-the-cover-of-time-guarantees-the-existence-of-opposition/) [John Kenneth Galbraith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-kenneth-galbraith/) > [The time that one gains cannot be accumulated in a storehouse; it is contradictory to want to save up existence, which, the fact is,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/simone-de-beauvoir/the-time-that-one-gains-cannot-be-accumulated-in-a-storehouse-it-is/) [Simone de Beauvoir](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/simone-de-beauvoir/) > [A lot of indigenous cultures are deeply involved in working with ancestor spirits, elemental spirits, and demons. Many of these cultures feel that, if…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/daniel-pinchbeck/a-lot-of-indigenous-cultures-are-deeply-involved-in-working-with/) [Daniel Pinchbeck](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/daniel-pinchbeck/) > [It does not seem to me to be sufficiently recognized everywhere among the officials that the existence or non-existence of our people and Empire…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-von-hindenburg/it-does-not-seem-to-me-to-be-sufficiently-recognized-everywhere-among/) [Paul von Hindenburg](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-von-hindenburg/) > [Quantum physics fluctuates all the time. But now the fluctuations are not just particles coming into and out of existence, which happens all the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/neil-degrasse-tyson/quantum-physics-fluctuates-all-the-time-but-now-the-fluctuations-are/) [Neil deGrasse Tyson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/neil-degrasse-tyson/) > [We have a fear of facing ourselves. That is the obstacle. Experiencing the innermost core of our existence is very embarrassing to a lot…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/chogyam-trungpa/we-have-a-fear-of-facing-ourselves-that-is-the-obstacle-experiencing/) [Chogyam Trungpa](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/chogyam-trungpa/) > [One of the things I regret about not putting in that book or I think it's there but I didn't really elaborate on it,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/brad-warner/one-of-the-things-i-regret-about-not-putting-in-that-book-or-i-think/) [Brad Warner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/brad-warner/) > [My mind rebels at stagnation. Give me problems, give me work, give me the most abstruse cryptogram, or the most intricate analysis, and I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/arthur-conan-doyle/my-mind-rebels-at-stagnation-give-me-problems-give-me-work-give-me/) [Arthur Conan Doyle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/arthur-conan-doyle/) > [May God bless each of us in our calls to serve. May our faith strengthen as we serve in righteousness, faithfully keeping the commandments.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/l-tom-perry/may-god-bless-each-of-us-in-our-calls-to-serve-may-our-faith/) [L. Tom Perry](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/l-tom-perry/) > [Never belong to a crowd; Never belong to a nation; Never belong to a religion; Never belong to a race. Belong to the whole…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rajneesh/never-belong-to-a-crowd-never-belong-to-a-nation-never-belong-to-a/) [Rajneesh](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rajneesh/) > [A knowledge of the existence of something we cannot penetrate, of the manifestations of the profoundest reason and the most radiant beauty - it…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/albert-einstein/a-knowledge-of-the-existence-of-something-we-cannot-penetrate-of-the/) [Albert Einstein](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/albert-einstein/) > [Universities are the cathedrals of the modern age. 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