--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: It reminded us that propaganda in some…" description: "\"It reminded us that propaganda in some form or other lurks in every book, that every work of art has a meaning and a purpose - a political, social and ..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c31/george-orwell-57_aesthetic_it-reminded-us-that-propaganda-in-some-f_1945363.jpg" --- # It reminded us that propaganda in some form or other lurks… ![“It reminded us that propaganda in some form or other lurks in every book, that every work of art has a meaning and a purpose - a political, social and religious purpose - that our aesthetic judgements are always coloured by our prejudices and beliefs” quote by George Orwell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c31/george-orwell-57_aesthetic_it-reminded-us-that-propaganda-in-some-f_1945363.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c31/george-orwell-57_aesthetic_it-reminded-us-that-propaganda-in-some-f_1945363.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c31/george-orwell-57_aesthetic_it-reminded-us-that-propaganda-in-some-f_1945363.jpg) > “It reminded us that propaganda in some form or other lurks in every book, that every work of art has a meaning and a purpose - a political, social and religious purpose - that our aesthetic judgements are always coloured by our prejudices and beliefs” [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. Art and literature are never neutral; they carry hidden political, social, and religious agendas shaped by our biases. **In simple terms:** Art reflects hidden agendas. Key Takeaway Critically examine media messages. Themes propaganda bias interpretation Mood analytical skeptical Type educational inspirational When to use this quote - reading news - educational curricula - political campaigns - social media - null Key Concepts critical theory media studies Questions to Reflect On - How do your beliefs shape your interpretation of art? - What steps can you take to recognize hidden agendas? A Different Perspective Even neutral‑seeming works can be free of bias. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Aesthetic](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/aesthetic/) [Art](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/art/) [Artist](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/artist/) [Belief](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/belief/) [Book](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/book/) [Books](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/books/) [Faith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/faith/) [Judgement](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/judgement/) [Political](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/political/) [Prejudice](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/prejudice/) [Propaganda](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/propaganda/) [Purpose](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/purpose/) [Religious](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/religious/) [Social](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/social/) [Works of art](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/works-of-art/) ## Related quotes > [Photography's central sense of purpose and aesthetic: the precise and lucid description of significant fact.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-szarkowski/photography-s-central-sense-of-purpose-and-aesthetic-the-precise-and/) [John Szarkowski](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-szarkowski/) > [Content alone is propaganda; form alone is wallpaper.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/philip-jones-griffiths/content-alone-is-propaganda-form-alone-is-wallpaper/) [Philip Jones Griffiths](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/philip-jones-griffiths/) > [“Narratives are universally used for mediating emotional experiences. The purpose of aesthetic objects has been defined, in part, as 'the awakening, intensifying, or maintaining…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mikkel-wallentin-arndis-simonsen-andreas-hojlund-nielsen/narratives-are-universally-used-for-mediating-emotional-experiences/) Mikkel Wallentin Arndis Simonsen Andreas Hojlund Nielsen > [I think it is the responsibility of critics to rely less strenuously on, to use a Hollywood phrase, "what they can live with," and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edward-albee/i-think-it-is-the-responsibility-of-critics-to-rely-less-strenuously/) [Edward Albee](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edward-albee/) > [Just because something causes you to have a feeling of aesthetic beauty does not make it a work of art.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/fred-ross/just-because-something-causes-you-to-have-a-feeling-of-aesthetic/) [Fred Ross](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/fred-ross/) > [Although photography generates works that can be called art-it requires subjectivity, it can lie, it gives aesthetic pleasure-photography is not, to begin with, an…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/susan-sontag/although-photography-generates-works-that-can-be-called-art-it/) [Susan Sontag](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/susan-sontag/) > [A work of art can be called revolutionary if, by virtue of the aesthetic transformation, it represents, in the exemplary fate of individuals, the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/herbert-marcuse/a-work-of-art-can-be-called-revolutionary-if-by-virtue-of-the/) [Herbert Marcuse](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/herbert-marcuse/) > [The general misunderstanding of a work of art is often due to the fact that the key to its spiritual content and technical means…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hans-hofmann/the-general-misunderstanding-of-a-work-of-art-is-often-due-to-the/) [Hans Hofmann](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hans-hofmann/) > [When I sit down to write a book, I do not say to myself, 'I am going to produce a work of art.' I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-orwell/when-i-sit-down-to-write-a-book-i-do-not-say-to-myself-i-am-going-to/) [George Orwell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-orwell/) > [ \[T\]he more one is conscious of one's political bias, the more chance one has of acting politically without sacrificing one's aesthetic and intellectual integrity. ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-orwell/t-he-more-one-is-conscious-of-one-s-political-bias-the-more-chance/) [George Orwell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-orwell/) > [I want my whole life to be a great work of art, not just my art. And that means paying attention to my entire…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jewel/i-want-my-whole-life-to-be-a-great-work-of-art-not-just-my-art-and/) [Jewel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jewel/) > [The house has to serve comfort. The work of art is revolutionary; the house is conservative.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/adolf-loos/the-house-has-to-serve-comfort-the-work-of-art-is-revolutionary-the/) [Adolf Loos](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/adolf-loos/) > [If it is written and read with serious attention, a novel, like a myth or any great work of art, can become an initiation…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/karen-armstrong/if-it-is-written-and-read-with-serious-attention-a-novel-like-a-myth/) [Karen Armstrong](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/karen-armstrong/) > [Every philosophy is complete in itself and, like a genuine work of art, contains the totality. Just as the works of Apelles and Sophocles,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/georg-wilhelm-friedrich-hegel/every-philosophy-is-complete-in-itself-and-like-a-genuine-work-of-art/) [Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/georg-wilhelm-friedrich-hegel/) > [True works of art contain their own theory and give us the measurement according to which we should judge them.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/johann-wolfgang-von-goethe/true-works-of-art-contain-their-own-theory-and-give-us-the/) [Johann Wolfgang von Goethe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/johann-wolfgang-von-goethe/) ## 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 Aesthetic quotes > [You feed yourself. Make sure you have all the information, whether it's aesthetic, scientific, mathematical, I don't care what it is. Then you walk…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ray-bradbury/you-feed-yourself-make-sure-you-have-all-the-information-whether-it-s/) [Ray Bradbury](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ray-bradbury/) > [“Beauty in the European sense has always had a premeditated quality to it. We've always had an aesthetic intention and a long-range plan. That's…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/milan-kundera/beauty-in-the-european-sense-has-always-had-a-premeditated-quality-to/) [Milan Kundera](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/milan-kundera/) > [All efforts to render politics aesthetic culminate in one thing: war.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/walter-benjamin/all-efforts-to-render-politics-aesthetic-culminate-in-one-thing-war/) [Walter Benjamin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/walter-benjamin/) > [Design certainly has a cosmetic, aesthetic aim. It always aims at making things beautiful. But relevance is just as important. I often say, 'If…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/yves-behar/design-certainly-has-a-cosmetic-aesthetic-aim-it-always-aims-at/) [Yves Behar](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/yves-behar/) > [I don't think I was ever thinking critically about my aesthetic, I think it's enough when you're little just to understand that you can…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tavi-gevinson/i-don-t-think-i-was-ever-thinking-critically-about-my-aesthetic-i/) [Tavi Gevinson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tavi-gevinson/) > [I'm kind of still down with Virg Woolf on this one: "women must kill the aesthetic ideal through which they themselves have been 'killed'…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lidia-yuknavitch/i-m-kind-of-still-down-with-virg-woolf-on-this-one-women-must-kill/) [Lidia Yuknavitch](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lidia-yuknavitch/) > [Virtue is as little to be acquired by learning as genius; nay, the idea is barren, and is only to be employed as an…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/arthur-schopenhauer/virtue-is-as-little-to-be-acquired-by-learning-as-genius-nay-the-idea/) [Arthur Schopenhauer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/arthur-schopenhauer/) > [There is a certain aesthetic pleasure in trying to imagine the unimaginable and failing, if you are a reader.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/a-s-byatt-2/there-is-a-certain-aesthetic-pleasure-in-trying-to-imagine-the/) [A. S. Byatt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/a-s-byatt-2/) > [I try to get the hip-hop aesthetic, most times without an MC. I don't use a rapper or a DJ to give it the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-glasper/i-try-to-get-the-hip-hop-aesthetic-most-times-without-an-mc-i-don-t/) [Robert Glasper](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-glasper/) > [It's so important what you're doing in your life. It's tremendously important to the work, and no aesthetic theories take that into account.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-maus/it-s-so-important-what-you-re-doing-in-your-life-it-s-tremendously/) [John Maus](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-maus/) > [It is not necessary to have an extravagant food budget in order to serve things with variety and tastefully cooked. It is not necessary…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edith-schaeffer/it-is-not-necessary-to-have-an-extravagant-food-budget-in-order-to/) [Edith Schaeffer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edith-schaeffer/) > [In reality no food is valued solely for its nutritive power and no garment or house solely for the protection it affords against cold…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ludwig-von-mises/in-reality-no-food-is-valued-solely-for-its-nutritive-power-and-no/) [Ludwig von Mises](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ludwig-von-mises/) > [Art is realistic when it strives to express an ethical ideal. Realism is striving for truth, and truth is always beautiful. 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Not a movement committed to a particular 'ism', but a gathering together of writers…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-metcalf/i-wanted-the-press-to-become-something-of-a-movement-not-a-movement/) John Metcalf [Browse all 953 Aesthetic quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/aesthetic/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "It reminded us that propaganda in some form or other lurks in every book, that every work of art has a meaning and a purpose - a political, social and religious purpose - that our aesthetic judgements are always coloured by our prejudices and beliefs", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "George Orwell" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-orwell/it-reminded-us-that-propaganda-in-some-form-or-other-lurks-in-every/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Aesthetic" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-orwell/it-reminded-us-that-propaganda-in-some-form-or-other-lurks-in-every/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c31/george-orwell-57_aesthetic_it-reminded-us-that-propaganda-in-some-f_1945363.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c31/george-orwell-57_aesthetic_it-reminded-us-that-propaganda-in-some-f_1945363.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c31/george-orwell-57_aesthetic_it-reminded-us-that-propaganda-in-some-f_1945363.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“It reminded us that propaganda in some form or other lurks in every book, that every work of art has a…” — 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": "It reminded us that propaganda in...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-orwell/it-reminded-us-that-propaganda-in-some-form-or-other-lurks-in-every/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-orwell/it-reminded-us-that-propaganda-in-some-form-or-other-lurks-in-every/#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 } } ] } ```