--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: In the long run, a hierarchical society…" description: "\"“In the long run, a hierarchical society was only possible on a basis of poverty and ignorance. To”\" — George Orwell" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/87b/george-orwell-57_long-run_in-the-long-run-a-hierarchical-society-w_1654091.jpg" --- # In the long run, a hierarchical society was only possible… ![“In the long run, a hierarchical society was only possible on a basis of poverty and ignorance. To” quote by George Orwell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/87b/george-orwell-57_long-run_in-the-long-run-a-hierarchical-society-w_1654091.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/87b/george-orwell-57_long-run_in-the-long-run-a-hierarchical-society-w_1654091.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/87b/george-orwell-57_long-run_in-the-long-run-a-hierarchical-society-w_1654091.jpg) > ““In the long run, a hierarchical society was only possible on a basis of poverty and ignorance. To”” [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. Hierarchical societies rely on poverty and ignorance to sustain themselves. **In simple terms:** Class systems need oppression to exist. Key Takeaway Address inequality and education to dismantle hierarchy. Themes social inequality education poverty political power Mood critical inspirational Type political philosophical When to use this quote - policy reform - educational programs - community organizing - media literacy Key Concepts structural oppression class theory knowledge control Questions to Reflect On - How can education break hierarchical cycles? - What policies reduce poverty-driven ignorance? A Different Perspective Change requires systemic overhaul, not just awareness. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Ignorance](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/ignorance/) [Poverty](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/poverty/) ## Related quotes > [“If it once became general, wealth would confer no distraction. It was possible no doubt to imagine a society in the sense of personal…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-orwell/if-it-once-became-general-wealth-would-confer-no-distraction-it-was/) [George Orwell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-orwell/) > [“It was possible, no doubt, to imagine a society in which wealth, in the sense of personal possessions and luxuries, should be evenly distributed,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-orwell/it-was-possible-no-doubt-to-imagine-a-society-in-which-wealth-in-the/) [George Orwell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-orwell/) > [For if leisure and security were enjoyed by all alike, the great mass of human beings who are normally stupefied by poverty would become…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-orwell/for-if-leisure-and-security-were-enjoyed-by-all-alike-the-great-mass-2/) [George Orwell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-orwell/) > [“But it was also clear that an all-round increase in wealth threatened the destruction—indeed, in some sense was the destruction—of a hierarchical society. In…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-orwell/but-it-was-also-clear-that-an-all-round-increase-in-wealth-threatened/) [George Orwell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-orwell/) > [A hierarchical society is only possible on the basis of poverty and ignorance, this new version is the past and no different past can…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-orwell/a-hierarchical-society-is-only-possible-on-the-basis-of-poverty-and/) [George Orwell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-orwell/) > [The proper aim is to try and reconstruct society on such a basis that poverty will be impossible.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/oscar-wilde/the-proper-aim-is-to-try-and-reconstruct-society-on-such-a-basis-that/) [Oscar Wilde](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/oscar-wilde/) > [But the problems of perpetuating a hierarchical society go deeper than this. There are only four ways in which a ruling group can fall…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-orwell/but-the-problems-of-perpetuating-a-hierarchical-society-go-deeper/) [George Orwell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-orwell/) > [“But it was also clear that an all-round increase in wealth threatened the destruction — indeed, in some sense was the destruction — of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-orwell/but-it-was-also-clear-that-an-all-round-increase-in-wealth-threatened-2/) [George Orwell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-orwell/) > [“By contrast, the traditional revolutionary demand for council forms of organization (what Hannah Arendt describes as "the revolutionary heritage") does not break completely with…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/murray-bookchin/by-contrast-the-traditional-revolutionary-demand-for-council-forms-of/) [Murray Bookchin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/murray-bookchin/) > [As society is only possible if everyone, while living his own life, at the same time helps others to live; if every individual is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ludwig-von-mises/as-society-is-only-possible-if-everyone-while-living-his-own-life-at/) [Ludwig von Mises](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ludwig-von-mises/) > [I have no social position and I stay away from what is known as society as much as possible.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gore-vidal/i-have-no-social-position-and-i-stay-away-from-what-is-known-as/) [Gore Vidal](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gore-vidal/) > [“Social life in a society is only possible when the people in it have learned to obey.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/social-life-in-a-society-is-only-possible-when-the-people-in-it-have/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [Dissimulation is the only thing that makes society possible; without its amenities the world would be a bear-garden.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ouida/dissimulation-is-the-only-thing-that-makes-society-possible-without/) [Ouida](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ouida/) > [What makes the existence and the evolution of society possible is precisely the fact that peaceful cooperation under the social division of labor in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ludwig-von-mises/what-makes-the-existence-and-the-evolution-of-society-possible-is/) [Ludwig von Mises](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ludwig-von-mises/) > [We must face the ultimate contradiction that our free and democratic society was made possible by massive slave labor.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-brion-davis/we-must-face-the-ultimate-contradiction-that-our-free-and-democratic/) David Brion Davis ## 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 Ignorance quotes > [My folks tried to make a preacher of me and missed by a narrow margin… I would have made a good one if I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-a-heinlein/my-folks-tried-to-make-a-preacher-of-me-and-missed-by-a-narrow-margin/) [Robert A. Heinlein](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-a-heinlein/) > [If you had made the acquiring of ignorance the study of your life, you could not have graduated with higher honor than you could…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-twain/if-you-had-made-the-acquiring-of-ignorance-the-study-of-your-life-you/) [Mark Twain](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-twain/) > [One of the deepest and strangest of all human moods is the mood which will suddenly strike us perhaps in a garden at night,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/one-of-the-deepest-and-strangest-of-all-human-moods-is-the-mood-which/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [Ignorance is not bliss — it is oblivion. Determined ignorance is the hastiest kind of oblivion.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/philip-wylie/ignorance-is-not-bliss-it-is-oblivion-determined-ignorance-is-the/) [Philip Wylie](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/philip-wylie/) > [... informed ignorance provides the natural state of mind for research scientists at the ever-shifting frontiers of knowledge. People who believe themselves ignorant of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/neil-degrasse-tyson/informed-ignorance-provides-the-natural-state-of-mind-for-research/) [Neil deGrasse Tyson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/neil-degrasse-tyson/) > [“If knowledge does not liberate the self from the self, then ignorance is better than such knowledge.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hakim-sanai/if-knowledge-does-not-liberate-the-self-from-the-self-then-ignorance/) [Hakim Sanai](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hakim-sanai/) > [You are senile old fool, and because of your impudence, I cannot fathom how you still live!](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/you-are-senile-old-fool-and-because-of-your-impudence-i-cannot-fathom/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [Surely, God could have caused birds to fly with their bones made of solid gold, with their veins full of quicksilver, with their flesh…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/galileo-galilei/surely-god-could-have-caused-birds-to-fly-with-their-bones-made-of/) [Galileo Galilei](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/galileo-galilei/) > [“Knowledge will forever govern ignorance, and a people who mean to be their own governors, must arm themselves with the power knowledge gives. A…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-madison/knowledge-will-forever-govern-ignorance-and-a-people-who-mean-to-be/) [James Madison](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-madison/) > [“Don’t turn your face away. Once you’ve seen, you can no longer act like you don’t know. Open your eyes to the truth. It’s…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/vashti-quiroz-vega/don-t-turn-your-face-away-once-you-ve-seen-you-can-no-longer-act-like/) Vashti Quiroz-Vega > [Nothing is worse than active ignorance.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/johann-wolfgang-von-goethe/nothing-is-worse-than-active-ignorance/) [Johann Wolfgang von Goethe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/johann-wolfgang-von-goethe/) > [The only victories which leave no regret are those which are gained over ignorance.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/napoleon-bonaparte/the-only-victories-which-leave-no-regret-are-those-which-are-gained/) [Napoleon Bonaparte](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/napoleon-bonaparte/) > [“Those who embrace prejudice doom themselves to live in ignorance.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-p-lintz-sr/those-who-embrace-prejudice-doom-themselves-to-live-in-ignorance/) John P Lintz Sr > [“You are a lawmaker in your own right.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sunday-adelaja/you-are-a-lawmaker-in-your-own-right/) [Sunday Adelaja](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sunday-adelaja/) > [Sanity can take one of only two forms: that of ignorance, or denial.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/derek-r-audette/sanity-can-take-one-of-only-two-forms-that-of-ignorance-or-denial/) [Derek R. Audette](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/derek-r-audette/) [Browse all 5,657 Ignorance quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/ignorance/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“In the long run, a hierarchical society was only possible on a basis of poverty and ignorance. To”", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "George Orwell" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-orwell/in-the-long-run-a-hierarchical-society-was-only-possible-on-a-basis/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Ignorance" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-orwell/in-the-long-run-a-hierarchical-society-was-only-possible-on-a-basis/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/87b/george-orwell-57_long-run_in-the-long-run-a-hierarchical-society-w_1654091.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/87b/george-orwell-57_long-run_in-the-long-run-a-hierarchical-society-w_1654091.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/87b/george-orwell-57_long-run_in-the-long-run-a-hierarchical-society-w_1654091.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“In the long run, a hierarchical society was only possible on a basis of poverty and ignorance. To” — 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": "“In the long run, a hierarchical...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-orwell/in-the-long-run-a-hierarchical-society-was-only-possible-on-a-basis/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-orwell/in-the-long-run-a-hierarchical-society-was-only-possible-on-a-basis/#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 } } ] } ```