--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: It struck him as curious that you could…" description: "\"“It struck him as curious that you could create dead men but not living ones.”\" — George Orwell" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/81b/george-orwell-57_curious_it-struck-him-as-curious-that-you-could_725603.jpg" --- # It struck him as curious that you could create dead men… ![“It struck him as curious that you could create dead men but not living ones.” quote by George Orwell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/81b/george-orwell-57_curious_it-struck-him-as-curious-that-you-could_725603.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/81b/george-orwell-57_curious_it-struck-him-as-curious-that-you-could_725603.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/81b/george-orwell-57_curious_it-struck-him-as-curious-that-you-could_725603.jpg) > ““It struck him as curious that you could create dead men but not living ones.”” [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. He observes a paradox: humanity can engineer death but struggles to nurture life. **In simple terms:** Dead can be created, life harder to sustain. Key Takeaway Value life over destruction. Themes ethics technology humanity Mood thoughtful critical Type philosophical reflective When to use this quote - medical research - environmental policy - education - leadership Key Concepts existential paradox creative responsibility Questions to Reflect On - How do we balance technological power with stewardship? - What responsibilities arise from creating life? A Different Perspective Creating dead men may ignore the complexity of sustaining living systems. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Create Dead](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/create-dead-5286581/) [Curious](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/curious/) [Curious Create](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/curious-create-5286582/) [Dead Men](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/dead-men/) [Struck Curious](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/struck-curious-5286580/) ## Related quotes > [“It struck him as curious that you could create dead men but not living ones. 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I suppose an hour never passes without your thinking of things that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-orwell/the-past-is-a-curious-thing-it-s-with-you-all-the-time-i-suppose-an/) [George Orwell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-orwell/) > [“We are all dead men on leave." —Eugene Levine, comedian”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/leslie-langtry/we-are-all-dead-men-on-leave-eugene-levine-comedian/) [Leslie Langtry](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/leslie-langtry/) > [We are all dead men on leave.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eugen-levine/we-are-all-dead-men-on-leave/) [Eugen Levine](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eugen-levine/) > [“Just as dead men make lousy ministers, dead organizations make lousy ministries. The”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/phil-vischer/just-as-dead-men-make-lousy-ministers-dead-organizations-make-lousy/) [Phil Vischer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/phil-vischer/) > [“My mother told me that dead men don't sing”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-r-r-martin/my-mother-told-me-that-dead-men-don-t-sing/) [George R.R. Martin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-r-r-martin/) > [Who waite for dead men shall goe long barefoote.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-heywood/who-waite-for-dead-men-shall-goe-long-barefoote/) [John Heywood](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-heywood/) > [In the middle of nowhere, along a quiet stretch of road, the diner dreamt of the hungry dead. And of two men.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/a-lee-martinez/in-the-middle-of-nowhere-along-a-quiet-stretch-of-road-the-diner/) [A. Lee Martinez](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/a-lee-martinez/) > [“I am now about to enter on my normal condition. For people are almost always in their graves. When we survey the long race…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-hardy/i-am-now-about-to-enter-on-my-normal-condition-for-people-are-almost/) [Thomas Hardy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-hardy/) > [Nothing is worth anything to dead men.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/arya/nothing-is-worth-anything-to-dead-men/) [Arya](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/arya/) > [“I am the dumb, the wild, the things now dead / That men have killed for being mute and strange”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gertrud-kolmar/i-am-the-dumb-the-wild-the-things-now-dead-that-men-have-killed-for/) [Gertrud Kolmar](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gertrud-kolmar/) > [And he that will this health deny, down among the dead men let him lie.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-dyer/and-he-that-will-this-health-deny-down-among-the-dead-men-let-him-lie/) [John Dyer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-dyer/) > [Dead men tell no tales, Mary.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/dead-men-tell-no-tales-mary/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [Silvio, I gotta go, find out something only dead men know.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bob-dylan/silvio-i-gotta-go-find-out-something-only-dead-men-know/) [Bob Dylan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bob-dylan/) ## 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. 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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 Curious quotes > [“What about you? What do you do?” I needed to ask questions, draw him out. I needed to find out all the information I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kate-avery-ellison/what-about-you-what-do-you-do-i-needed-to-ask-questions-draw-him-out/) [Kate Avery Ellison](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kate-avery-ellison/) > [Okay, so I'll admit I'm curious. Big deal. We both know what that leads to. Dead cat.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/susan-elizabeth-phillips/okay-so-i-ll-admit-i-m-curious-big-deal-we-both-know-what-that-leads/) [Susan Elizabeth Phillips](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/susan-elizabeth-phillips/) > [A garden has a curious innocent way of consuming cash while all the time you are under the illusion that you are spending nothing.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/esther-meynell/a-garden-has-a-curious-innocent-way-of-consuming-cash-while-all-the/) [Esther Meynell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/esther-meynell/) > [“The process of becoming curious is the movement away from simply living by what and how, and moving into the beautifully ambiguous and possibility-laden…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/casey-tygrett/the-process-of-becoming-curious-is-the-movement-away-from-simply/) [Casey Tygrett](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/casey-tygrett/) > [Real breakthroughs are not found because you want to develop some new technology, but because you are curious and want to find out how…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anton-zeilinger/real-breakthroughs-are-not-found-because-you-want-to-develop-some-new/) [Anton Zeilinger](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anton-zeilinger/) > [I don't know what successful journaling really looks like... I think it really does look so different for everyone who does it, I'm always…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gracie-abrams/i-don-t-know-what-successful-journaling-really-looks-like-i-think-it/) [Gracie Abrams](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gracie-abrams/) > [“So curious you must be. Like little calves poking their heads through the fence with big eyes and a headful of curiosity.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carew-papritz/so-curious-you-must-be-like-little-calves-poking-their-heads-through/) [Carew Papritz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carew-papritz/) > [Our world is drowning in a sea of self-centeredness. You can make yourself quite unique right away by leaving this ocean of selfishness and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-bytheway/our-world-is-drowning-in-a-sea-of-self-centeredness-you-can-make/) [John Bytheway](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-bytheway/) > [Be curious not judge mental](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/unknow/be-curious-not-judge-mental/) [Unknow](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/unknow/) > [“It is curious how little interested we are in the sexual desires of those who do not attract us.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gore-vidal/it-is-curious-how-little-interested-we-are-in-the-sexual-desires-of/) [Gore Vidal](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gore-vidal/) > [International friendly games are not worth the lives of the silk worms who perish to make the pennants. They do not even have the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/danny-baker/international-friendly-games-are-not-worth-the-lives-of-the-silk/) [Danny Baker](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/danny-baker/) > [Natural history is not taught in seminary. This is curious, as most people in pastoral ministry are about 567 times more likely to be…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sara-maitland/natural-history-is-not-taught-in-seminary-this-is-curious-as-most/) [Sara Maitland](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sara-maitland/) > [Easy, Curious George! Get your grubby hands off of that wheel!](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-cena/easy-curious-george-get-your-grubby-hands-off-of-that-wheel/) [John Cena](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-cena/) > [We want to explore. We're curious people. 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