--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: The thing that strikes me more and more…" description: "\"“The thing that strikes me more and more, is the extraordinary viciousness and dishonesty of political controversy in our time. I don’t mean merely tha..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f09/george-orwell-57_debate_the-thing-that-strikes-me-more-and-more_1365240.jpg" --- # The thing that strikes me more and more, is the… ![“The thing that strikes me more and more, is the extraordinary viciousness and dishonesty of political controversy in our time. I don’t mean merely that controversies are acrimonious. They ought to be that when they are on serious subjects. I mean that almost nobody seems to feel that an opponent…” quote by George Orwell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f09/george-orwell-57_debate_the-thing-that-strikes-me-more-and-more_1365240.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f09/george-orwell-57_debate_the-thing-that-strikes-me-more-and-more_1365240.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f09/george-orwell-57_debate_the-thing-that-strikes-me-more-and-more_1365240.jpg) > ““The thing that strikes me more and more, is the extraordinary viciousness and dishonesty of political controversy in our time. I don’t mean merely that controversies are acrimonious. They ought to be that when they are on serious subjects. I mean that almost nobody seems to feel that an opponent deserves a fair hearing or that the objective truth matters as long as you can score a neat debating point.”” [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. Political debate often prioritizes winning over truth, leading to dishonesty and a lack of fair hearing for opponents. **In simple terms:** Debates focus on points, not truth. Key Takeaway Seek truth over victory. Themes politics honesty discourse Mood critical concerned Type political ethical When to use this quote - public debates - media analysis - policy discussions Key Concepts ethics media studies Questions to Reflect On - How can we encourage honest discourse? - What role does media play in shaping debate? A Different Perspective The pursuit of points can undermine genuine dialogue. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Controversies](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/controversies/) [Controversies Acrimonious](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/controversies-acrimonious-4685745/) [Controversy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/controversy/) [Debate](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/debate/) [Objective truth](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/objective-truth/) [Political Controversy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/political-controversy-2451563/) [Politics](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/politics/) [Time](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/time/) [Viciousness Dishonesty](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/viciousness-dishonesty-4685746/) ## Related quotes > [In a period of such obsessing political controversy as the present, I believe that I am that strange animal, the individual without any politics…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wyndham-lewis/in-a-period-of-such-obsessing-political-controversy-as-the-present-i/) [Wyndham Lewis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wyndham-lewis/) > [There are very interesting controversies within evolution; however, whether evolution occurs is not one of them. It definitely does.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-dawkins/there-are-very-interesting-controversies-within-evolution-however/) [Richard Dawkins](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-dawkins/) > [I'm never surprised by controversies that are whipped up in Washington.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/barack-obama/i-m-never-surprised-by-controversies-that-are-whipped-up-in-washington/) [Barack Obama](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/barack-obama/) > [The most savage controversies are about matters as to which there is no good evidence either way.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bertrand-russell/the-most-savage-controversies-are-about-matters-as-to-which-there-is/) [Bertrand Russell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bertrand-russell/) > [The unknowable creates the greatest controversies.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mason-cooley/the-unknowable-creates-the-greatest-controversies/) [Mason Cooley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mason-cooley/) > [The passionate controversies of one era are viewed as sterile preoccupations by another, for knowledge alters what we seek as well as what we…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/freda-adler/the-passionate-controversies-of-one-era-are-viewed-as-sterile/) [Freda Adler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/freda-adler/) > [In mathematics there are no true controversies.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carl-friedrich-gauss/in-mathematics-there-are-no-true-controversies/) [Carl Friedrich Gauss](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carl-friedrich-gauss/) > [I decline all noisy, wordy, confused, and personal controversies.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/josiah-warren/i-decline-all-noisy-wordy-confused-and-personal-controversies/) [Josiah Warren](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/josiah-warren/) > [ \[Donald Trump\] has got his own controversies to deal with. The business conflicts are a big one. But he's creating new ones. There's no… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/chuck-todd/donald-trump-has-got-his-own-controversies-to-deal-with-the-business/) [Chuck Todd](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/chuck-todd/) > [I am used to controversies.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sharad-pawar/i-am-used-to-controversies/) [Sharad Pawar](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sharad-pawar/) > [I don't create controversies. They're there long before I open my mouth. I just bring them to your attention.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-barkley/i-don-t-create-controversies-they-re-there-long-before-i-open-my/) [Charles Barkley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-barkley/) > [The most savage controversies are those about matters as to which there is no good evidence either way. Persecution is used in theology, not…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bertrand-russell/the-most-savage-controversies-are-those-about-matters-as-to-which/) [Bertrand Russell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bertrand-russell/) > [“…the very purpose of a Bill of Rights was to withdraw certain subjects from the vicissitudes of political controversy, to place them beyond the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/justice-asok-kumar-ganguly/the-very-purpose-of-a-bill-of-rights-was-to-withdraw-certain-subjects-2/) [Justice Asok Kumar Ganguly](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/justice-asok-kumar-ganguly/) > [The very purpose of a bill of rights is to withdraw certain subjects from...political controversy, to place them beyond the reach of majorities.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-h-jackson/the-very-purpose-of-a-bill-of-rights-is-to-withdraw-certain-subjects/) [Robert H. Jackson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-h-jackson/) > [The political controversy surrounding this Boston's Big Dig could have the effect of throwing cold water on any plans for farsighted infrastructure development around…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/andrew-natsios/the-political-controversy-surrounding-this-boston-s-big-dig-could/) [Andrew Natsios](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/andrew-natsios/) ## 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 Controversies quotes > [I want to stay away from controversies.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/shehnaaz-gill/i-want-to-stay-away-from-controversies/) [Shehnaaz Gill](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/shehnaaz-gill/) > [We are too much accustomed to attribute to a single cause that which is the product of several, and the majority of our controversies…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marcus-aurelius/we-are-too-much-accustomed-to-attribute-to-a-single-cause-that-which/) [Marcus Aurelius](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marcus-aurelius/) > [There are very interesting controversies within evolution; however, whether evolution occurs is not one of them. It definitely does.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-dawkins/there-are-very-interesting-controversies-within-evolution-however/) [Richard Dawkins](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-dawkins/) > [I don't care about controversies. I am a young woman with an opinion about certain things. I can't be diplomatic. I am a feminist,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sonam-kapoor/i-don-t-care-about-controversies-i-am-a-young-woman-with-an-opinion/) [Sonam Kapoor](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sonam-kapoor/) > [As far as controversies are concerned, as an actor for the first time when there was something written about me I was affected. But…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jasmin-bhasin/as-far-as-controversies-are-concerned-as-an-actor-for-the-first-time/) [Jasmin Bhasin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jasmin-bhasin/) > [The most savage controversies are those about matters as to which there is no good evidence either way. Persecution is used in theology, not…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bertrand-russell/the-most-savage-controversies-are-those-about-matters-as-to-which/) [Bertrand Russell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bertrand-russell/) > [I don't create controversies. They're there long before I open my mouth. I just bring them to your attention.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-barkley/i-don-t-create-controversies-they-re-there-long-before-i-open-my/) [Charles Barkley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-barkley/) > [I am used to controversies.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sharad-pawar/i-am-used-to-controversies/) [Sharad Pawar](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sharad-pawar/) > [Sometimes it is beneficial to you and sometimes it is not. So, you should not pay too much attention to controversies. You should just…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/prateik-babbar/sometimes-it-is-beneficial-to-you-and-sometimes-it-is-not-so-you/) [Prateik Babbar](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/prateik-babbar/) > [“The most savage controversies are those about matters as to which there is no good evidence either way.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bertrand-russell/the-most-savage-controversies-are-those-about-matters-as-to-which-2/) [Bertrand Russell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bertrand-russell/) > [“some current controversies are caused, or at least stoked, by a reluctance to abandon received ideas that may well have outlived their usefulness.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ian-tattersall/some-current-controversies-are-caused-or-at-least-stoked-by-a/) [Ian Tattersall](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ian-tattersall/) > [The media thinks that only the cutting edge of science, the very latest controversies, are worth reporting on. How often do you see headlines…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eliezer-yudkowsky/the-media-thinks-that-only-the-cutting-edge-of-science-the-very/) [Eliezer Yudkowsky](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eliezer-yudkowsky/) > [You need guts to deal with controversies.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nagma/you-need-guts-to-deal-with-controversies/) [Nagma](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nagma/) > [Controversies are a package deal in this industry. You just have to understand that and accept it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/akshay-kumar/controversies-are-a-package-deal-in-this-industry-you-just-have-to/) [Akshay Kumar](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/akshay-kumar/) > [The newspapers of the twenty-first century will give a mere 'stick' in the back pages to accounts of crime or political controversies, but will…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nikola-tesla/the-newspapers-of-the-twenty-first-century-will-give-a-mere-stick-in/) [Nikola Tesla](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nikola-tesla/) [Browse all 55 Controversies quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/controversies/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“The thing that strikes me more and more, is the extraordinary viciousness and dishonesty of political controversy in our time. I don’t mean merely that controversies are acrimonious. They ought to be that when they are on serious subjects. 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