--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Pacifism is a psychological curiosity…" description: "\"“Pacifism is a psychological curiosity rather than a political movement. Some of the extremer pacifists, starting out with a complete renunciation of v..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/84c/george-orwell-57_politics_pacifism-is-a-psychological-curiosity-ra_2033005.jpg" --- # Pacifism is a psychological curiosity rather than a… ![“Pacifism is a psychological curiosity rather than a political movement. Some of the extremer pacifists, starting out with a complete renunciation of violence, have ended by warmly championing Hitler and even toying with antisemitism. This is interesting, but it is not important. ‘Pure’ pacifism…” quote by George Orwell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/84c/george-orwell-57_politics_pacifism-is-a-psychological-curiosity-ra_2033005.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/84c/george-orwell-57_politics_pacifism-is-a-psychological-curiosity-ra_2033005.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/84c/george-orwell-57_politics_pacifism-is-a-psychological-curiosity-ra_2033005.jpg) > ““Pacifism is a psychological curiosity rather than a political movement. Some of the extremer pacifists, starting out with a complete renunciation of violence, have ended by warmly championing Hitler and even toying with antisemitism. This is interesting, but it is not important. ‘Pure’ pacifism, which is a by-product of naval power, can only appeal to people in very sheltered positions. Moreover, being negative and irresponsible, it does not inspire much devotion.”” [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. Pacifism often stems from privilege and can become detached from reality, sometimes leading to extremist contradictions. **In simple terms:** Pacifism can be a privileged, unrealistic stance. Key Takeaway Recognize the limits of idealism in politics. Themes politics ideology privilege Mood critical skeptical Type analytical philosophical When to use this quote - academic debate - policy making - activist movements Key Concepts psychology ethical relativism Questions to Reflect On - How does privilege shape moral positions? - When does idealism become harmful? A Different Perspective Idealism may ignore practical constraints and lead to hypocrisy. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Extremer Pacifists](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/extremer-pacifists-3744412/) [Pacifism](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/pacifism/) [Pacifism Psychological](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/pacifism-psychological-3744411/) [Pacifists](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/pacifists/) [Politics](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/politics/) [Pure Pacifism](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/pure-pacifism-3744410/) ## Related quotes > [Since pacifists have more freedom of action in countries where traces of democracy survive, pacifism can act more effectively against democracy than for it.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-orwell/since-pacifists-have-more-freedom-of-action-in-countries-where-traces/) [George Orwell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-orwell/) > [ “If \[pacifists\] imagine that one can somehow "overcome" the German army by lying on one's back, let them go on imagining it, but let… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-orwell/if-pacifists-imagine-that-one-can-somehow-overcome-the-german-army-by/) [George Orwell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-orwell/) > [ “Moreover \[pacifists\] do not as a rule condemn violence as such, but only violence used in defence of western countries” ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-orwell/moreover-pacifists-do-not-as-a-rule-condemn-violence-as-such-but-only/) [George Orwell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-orwell/) > [“The majority of pacifists either belong to obscure religious sects or are simply humanitarians who object to taking life and prefer not to follow…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-orwell/the-majority-of-pacifists-either-belong-to-obscure-religious-sects-or/) [George Orwell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-orwell/) > [Pacifism as a mass movement aims to avoid suffering; pacifists often say that no cause is worth suffering or dying for. The ethos of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/adam-michnik/pacifism-as-a-mass-movement-aims-to-avoid-suffering-pacifists-often/) [Adam Michnik](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/adam-michnik/) > [“The main problem with pacifism is that it doesn’t work in all situations. The main problem with pacifists is that they’re convinced it does.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/burt-prelutsky/the-main-problem-with-pacifism-is-that-it-doesn-t-work-in-all/) [Burt Prelutsky](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/burt-prelutsky/) > [Pacifism means letting the non-pacifists have control ... Pacifism will remain an ideal, war a fact. If the white races are resolved never to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/oswald-spengler/pacifism-means-letting-the-non-pacifists-have-control-pacifism-will/) [Oswald Spengler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/oswald-spengler/) > [“We cannot afford the luxury known as conscience. The enemy we are up against certainly doesn't have one, so we are obliged to be…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-brunner/we-cannot-afford-the-luxury-known-as-conscience-the-enemy-we-are-up/) [John Brunner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-brunner/) > [ I will not call myself a pacifist for the very simple reason that if something like a \[Francisco\] Franco should arise in Spain again,… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/murray-bookchin/i-will-not-call-myself-a-pacifist-for-the-very-simple-reason-that-if/) [Murray Bookchin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/murray-bookchin/) > [Before World War I one of the objections commonly urged against votes for women was that women would tend to be pacifists. During the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bertrand-russell/before-world-war-i-one-of-the-objections-commonly-urged-against-votes/) [Bertrand Russell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bertrand-russell/) > [Pacifism in the face of war is not only irresponsible - it is immoral. Refusing to meet force with force in the name of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-limbaugh/pacifism-in-the-face-of-war-is-not-only-irresponsible-it-is-immoral/) [David Limbaugh](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-limbaugh/) > [Naturally, the common people don't want war ... but after all it is the leaders of a country who determine the policy, and it…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hermann-goring/naturally-the-common-people-don-t-want-war-but-after-all-it-is-the/) [Hermann Goring](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hermann-goring/) > [“I find it significant that most military veterans become pacifists.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michel-templet/i-find-it-significant-that-most-military-veterans-become-pacifists/) [Michel Templet](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michel-templet/) > [Men have been pacifists for every reason under the sun except to avoid danger and fighting.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-faulkner/men-have-been-pacifists-for-every-reason-under-the-sun-except-to/) [William Faulkner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-faulkner/) > [“Pacifism is a tenable position, provided that you are prepared to live with the consequences.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-orwell/pacifism-is-a-tenable-position-provided-that-you-are-prepared-to-live/) [George Orwell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-orwell/) ## 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 Pacifism quotes > [“... it would be better for our country and the world in general, if at least the few people who were capable of thought…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hermann-hesse/it-would-be-better-for-our-country-and-the-world-in-general-if-at/) [Hermann Hesse](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hermann-hesse/) > [“Nonviolence is the very essence of the gospels.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/helene-iswolsky/nonviolence-is-the-very-essence-of-the-gospels/) [Helene Iswolsky](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/helene-iswolsky/) > [Pacifism as a mass movement aims to avoid suffering; pacifists often say that no cause is worth suffering or dying for. The ethos of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/adam-michnik/pacifism-as-a-mass-movement-aims-to-avoid-suffering-pacifists-often/) [Adam Michnik](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/adam-michnik/) > [I am not a terrorist, but neither am I a pacifist. I am simply a regular guy from the Palestinian street advocating only what…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marwan-barghouti/i-am-not-a-terrorist-but-neither-am-i-a-pacifist-i-am-simply-a/) [Marwan Barghouti](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marwan-barghouti/) > [“I think about something I once heard on the radio. About Abraham and Isaac." "I was afraid you'd say something like that." "You asked."…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/a-j-kazinski/i-think-about-something-i-once-heard-on-the-radio-about-abraham-and/) [A.J. Kazinski](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/a-j-kazinski/) > [“Fugitive Peace (Sonnet 2219) In the opera of war, peace is fugitive - thinking soldiers are no good to state, either you kill without…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/abhijit-naskar/fugitive-peace-sonnet-2219-in-the-opera-of-war-peace-is-fugitive/) [Abhijit Naskar](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/abhijit-naskar/) > [“It is night at the front, a shadow, a shot. The Jew who has just fired hears a moan... "And then, mother, the hair…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/andre-schwarz-bart/it-is-night-at-the-front-a-shadow-a-shot-the-jew-who-has-just-fired/) [Andre Schwarz-Bart](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/andre-schwarz-bart/) > [I really believe that Bob Dylan and others have speeded up the changes. Pacifism has found a voice at last.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-bowie/i-really-believe-that-bob-dylan-and-others-have-speeded-up-the/) [David Bowie](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-bowie/) > [Since pacifists have more freedom of action in countries where traces of democracy survive, pacifism can act more effectively against democracy than for it.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-orwell/since-pacifists-have-more-freedom-of-action-in-countries-where-traces/) [George Orwell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-orwell/) > [“Pacifism is a tenable position, provided that you are prepared to live with the consequences.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-orwell/pacifism-is-a-tenable-position-provided-that-you-are-prepared-to-live/) [George Orwell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-orwell/) > [“The friends of Galtieri, Saddam Hussein, Mullah Omar and Milosevic make unconvincing defenders of humanitarian values, and it can be seen that their inept…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/christopher-hitchens/the-friends-of-galtieri-saddam-hussein-mullah-omar-and-milosevic-make/) [Christopher Hitchens](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/christopher-hitchens/) > [I know there are some Christians who believe that war and their participation in it are morally wrong. While I respect their views and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pat-robertson/i-know-there-are-some-christians-who-believe-that-war-and-their/) [Pat Robertson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pat-robertson/) > [I'm sort of exploring where pacifism and socialism come into conflict. How do you reconcile a passionate rejection of might and violence with an…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hal-duncan/i-m-sort-of-exploring-where-pacifism-and-socialism-come-into-conflict/) [Hal Duncan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hal-duncan/) > [“I am not a committed pacifist. I would not hold that it is under all imaginable circumstances wrong to use violence, even though use…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/noam-chomsky/i-am-not-a-committed-pacifist-i-would-not-hold-that-it-is-under-all/) [Noam Chomsky](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/noam-chomsky/) > [If peace is equated simply with the absence of war, it can become abject pacifism that turns the world over to the most ruthless.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henry-a-kissinger/if-peace-is-equated-simply-with-the-absence-of-war-it-can-become/) [Henry A. Kissinger](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henry-a-kissinger/) [Browse all 150 Pacifism quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/pacifism/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“Pacifism is a psychological curiosity rather than a political movement. 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