--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: One day they would decide to shoot him…" description: "\"“One day they would decide to shoot him. You could not tell when it would happen, but a few seconds beforehand it should be possible to guess. It was a..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/629/george-orwell-57_bullet_one-day-they-would-decide-to-shoot-him-y_2984598.jpg" --- # One day they would decide to shoot him. You could not tell… ![“One day they would decide to shoot him. You could not tell when it would happen, but a few seconds beforehand it should be possible to guess. It was always from behind, walking down a corridor. Ten seconds would be enough. In that time the world inside him could turn over. And then suddenly…” quote by George Orwell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/629/george-orwell-57_bullet_one-day-they-would-decide-to-shoot-him-y_2984598.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/629/george-orwell-57_bullet_one-day-they-would-decide-to-shoot-him-y_2984598.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/629/george-orwell-57_bullet_one-day-they-would-decide-to-shoot-him-y_2984598.jpg) > ““One day they would decide to shoot him. You could not tell when it would happen, but a few seconds beforehand it should be possible to guess. It was always from behind, walking down a corridor. Ten seconds would be enough. In that time the world inside him could turn over. And then suddenly, without a word uttered, without a check in his step, without the changing of a line in his face—suddenly the camouflage would be down and bang! would go the batteries of his hatred. Hatred would fill him like an enormous roaring flame. And almost in the same instant bang! would go the bullet, too late, or too early. They would have blown his brain to pieces before they could reclaim it. The heretical thought would be unpunished, unrepented, out of their reach for ever. They would have blown a hole in their own perfection. To die hating them, that was freedom.”” [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 quote depicts a dystopian scenario where a person’s inner rebellion is violently suppressed, yet the act of hatred becomes a form of ultimate freedom against an oppressive regime. **In simple terms:** Hatred becomes a final act of freedom when suppressed. Key Takeaway Embrace authentic resistance despite oppression. Themes oppression rebellion freedom psychology Mood defiant grim introspective Type literary philosophical political When to use this quote - political protest - personal defiance - mental health coping - creative expression Key Concepts totalitarianism psychological resistance identity crisis Questions to Reflect On - What does true freedom look like without hatred? - Can resistance exist without self‑destruction? A Different Perspective The narrative glorifies hatred, which can perpetuate cycles of violence. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Hatred](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/hatred/) [Time](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/time/) [Too late](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/too-late/) ## Related quotes > [“They would have blown his brain to pieces before they could reclaim it. The heretical thought would be unpunished, unrepented, out of their reach…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-orwell/they-would-have-blown-his-brain-to-pieces-before-they-could-reclaim/) [George Orwell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-orwell/) > [Hatred like love feeds on the merest trifles. Everything adds to it. Just as the being we love can do no wrong, so the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/honor-de-balzac/hatred-like-love-feeds-on-the-merest-trifles-everything-adds-to-it/) [Honore de Balzac](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/honor-de-balzac/) > [Anger or hatred is like a fisherman's hook. It is very important for us to ensure that we are not caught by it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dalai-lama/anger-or-hatred-is-like-a-fisherman-s-hook-it-is-very-important-for/) [Dalai Lama](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dalai-lama/) > [Hatred is like a long, dark shadow. Not even the person it falls upon knows where it comes from, in most cases. It is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/haruki-murakami/hatred-is-like-a-long-dark-shadow-not-even-the-person-it-falls-upon/) [Haruki Murakami](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/haruki-murakami/) > [Hatred can become like food, it gives you this energy that you can, like, live off ...](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/claire-danes/hatred-can-become-like-food-it-gives-you-this-energy-that-you-can/) [Claire Danes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/claire-danes/) > [Hatred like love feeds on the merest trifles.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/honor-de-balzac/hatred-like-love-feeds-on-the-merest-trifles/) [Honore de Balzac](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/honor-de-balzac/) > [If one judges love by the majority of its effects, it is more like hatred than like friendship.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/francois-de-la-rochefoucauld/if-one-judges-love-by-the-majority-of-its-effects-it-is-more-like/) [Francois de La Rochefoucauld](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/francois-de-la-rochefoucauld/) > [Anger is a transient hatred; or at least very like it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-south/anger-is-a-transient-hatred-or-at-least-very-like-it/) [Robert South](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-south/) > [Hatred is like fire, it makes even light rubbish deadly.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-eliot/hatred-is-like-fire-it-makes-even-light-rubbish-deadly/) [George Eliot](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-eliot/) > [“Hatred is like a dam waiting to burst, and when it does, it is more devastating than what you had originally intended.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/angelina-fleck/hatred-is-like-a-dam-waiting-to-burst-and-when-it-does-it-is-more/) Angelina Fleck > [“Hatred is like a tow-edged sword. When you cut the other person, you cut yourself.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/haruki-murakami/hatred-is-like-a-tow-edged-sword-when-you-cut-the-other-person-you/) [Haruki Murakami](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/haruki-murakami/) > [“Hatred is like a long, dark shadow. In most cases, not even the person it falls upon knows where it comes from. It is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/haruki-murakami/hatred-is-like-a-long-dark-shadow-in-most-cases-not-even-the-person/) [Haruki Murakami](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/haruki-murakami/) > [“That is how they are. That is how the Cold Peace has made them. Afraid of what is new and different, and filled with…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cassandra-clare/that-is-how-they-are-that-is-how-the-cold-peace-has-made-them-afraid/) [Cassandra Clare](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cassandra-clare/) > [Hatred is more like felony exception of gun and killing it is still a natural crime](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lilteny/hatred-is-more-like-felony-exception-of-gun-and-killing-it-is-still-a/) [LilTeny](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lilteny/) > [Hatred, like straw, makes for a lumpy mattress.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/karen-kijewski/hatred-like-straw-makes-for-a-lumpy-mattress/) [Karen Kijewski](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/karen-kijewski/) ## 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 Bullet quotes > [Luckily, the bullet that hit my chest never got to me. It was stopped by a silver case I got for my brother's wedding.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-doohan/luckily-the-bullet-that-hit-my-chest-never-got-to-me-it-was-stopped/) [James Doohan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-doohan/) > [“Lately, it had been an endless procession of long, black nights and gray mornings, when her sense of failure swept over her like a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/fannie-flagg/lately-it-had-been-an-endless-procession-of-long-black-nights-and/) [Fannie Flagg](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/fannie-flagg/) > [So far I'm still standing on 'Sons of Anarchy' but all the rest of the people on the show have me in their crosshairs…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mitch-pileggi/so-far-i-m-still-standing-on-sons-of-anarchy-but-all-the-rest-of-the/) Mitch Pileggi > [The bullet that will kill me is not yet cast.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/napoleon-bonaparte/the-bullet-that-will-kill-me-is-not-yet-cast/) [Napoleon Bonaparte](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/napoleon-bonaparte/) > [When a person has a gun, sometimes their mind clicks that this thing will win arguments and straighten people out.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bill-cosby/when-a-person-has-a-gun-sometimes-their-mind-clicks-that-this-thing/) [Bill Cosby](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bill-cosby/) > [When you give someone a second chance, you're giving them an extra bullet to shoot you with.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/when-you-give-someone-a-second-chance-you-re-giving-them-an-extra/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [“If mankind's destined to bite the bullet, let's bite it and be damned.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/darren-shan/if-mankind-s-destined-to-bite-the-bullet-let-s-bite-it-and-be-damned/) [Darren Shan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/darren-shan/) > [This is like playing Russian roulette with a Luger rather than a revolver. One bullet, one chamber - and we're pulling the trigger.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-lynas/this-is-like-playing-russian-roulette-with-a-luger-rather-than-a/) [Mark Lynas](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-lynas/) > [For Whom Would You Take This Bullet ?](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ali-bassam/for-whom-would-you-take-this-bullet/) [Ali Bassam](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ali-bassam/) > [“I don’t know how these things died without benefit of a bullet to the brain pan. They seemed to exist in an eternal twilight…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/steven-ramirez/i-don-t-know-how-these-things-died-without-benefit-of-a-bullet-to-the/) [Steven Ramirez](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/steven-ramirez/) > [I was playing in the league when Ray Guy was playing in the league. He was the best kicker I've ever seen. He could…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gale-sayers/i-was-playing-in-the-league-when-ray-guy-was-playing-in-the-league-he/) [Gale Sayers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gale-sayers/) > [I carved your name into this bullet so that everyone would know that you were the last thing going through my head.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/i-carved-your-name-into-this-bullet-so-that-everyone-would-know-that/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [If you take a shot at someone, you keep firing until they can no longer return fire. Wound them, and you have an angry…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/karen-traviss/if-you-take-a-shot-at-someone-you-keep-firing-until-they-can-no/) [Karen Traviss](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/karen-traviss/) > [“So I heard the boom of my father's rifle when he shot my best friend. A bullet only costs about two cents, and anybody…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sherman-alexie/so-i-heard-the-boom-of-my-father-s-rifle-when-he-shot-my-best-friend/) [Sherman Alexie](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sherman-alexie/) > [I'll be your number one with a bullet. A loaded god complex, cock it and pull it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/fall-out-boy/i-ll-be-your-number-one-with-a-bullet-a-loaded-god-complex-cock-it/) [Fall Out Boy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/fall-out-boy/) Browse all 493 Bullet quotes ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“One day they would decide to shoot him. You could not tell when it would happen, but a few seconds beforehand it should be possible to guess. It was always from behind, walking down a corridor. Ten seconds would be enough. In that time the world inside him could turn over. And then suddenly, without a word uttered, without a check in his step, without the changing of a line in his face—suddenly the camouflage would be down and bang! would go the batteries of his hatred. Hatred would fill him like an enormous roaring flame. And almost in the same instant bang! would go the bullet, too late, or too early. They would have blown his brain to pieces before they could reclaim it. The heretical thought would be unpunished, unrepented, out of their reach for ever. They would have blown a hole in their own perfection. To die hating them, that was freedom.”", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "George Orwell" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-orwell/one-day-they-would-decide-to-shoot-him-you-could-not-tell-when-it/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Bullet" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-orwell/one-day-they-would-decide-to-shoot-him-you-could-not-tell-when-it/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/629/george-orwell-57_bullet_one-day-they-would-decide-to-shoot-him-y_2984598.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/629/george-orwell-57_bullet_one-day-they-would-decide-to-shoot-him-y_2984598.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/629/george-orwell-57_bullet_one-day-they-would-decide-to-shoot-him-y_2984598.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“One day they would decide to shoot him. You could not tell when it would happen, but a few seconds…” — 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": "“One day they would decide to...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-orwell/one-day-they-would-decide-to-shoot-him-you-could-not-tell-when-it/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-orwell/one-day-they-would-decide-to-shoot-him-you-could-not-tell-when-it/#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 } } ] } ```