--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: -to judge us all through the machine of…" description: "\"“-to judge us all through the machine of the Commandant's monstrous fictions! As though they were the truth! As though history & the written word were ..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/8ed/richard-flanagan-2253_computers_to-judge-us-all-through-the-machine-of-t_1025491.jpg" --- # -to judge us all through the machine of the Commandant's… ![“-to judge us all through the machine of the Commandant's monstrous fictions! As though they were the truth! As though history & the written word were friends, rather than adversaries!” quote by Richard Flanagan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/8ed/richard-flanagan-2253_computers_to-judge-us-all-through-the-machine-of-t_1025491.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/8ed/richard-flanagan-2253_computers_to-judge-us-all-through-the-machine-of-t_1025491.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/8ed/richard-flanagan-2253_computers_to-judge-us-all-through-the-machine-of-t_1025491.jpg) > ““-to judge us all through the machine of the Commandant's monstrous fictions! As though they were the truth! As though history & the written word were friends, rather than adversaries!”” [Richard Flanagan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-flanagan/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. The narrator condemns the distortion of truth by those in power, turning history into a weapon. **In simple terms:** Power can twist truth into propaganda. Key Takeaway Question authority and seek multiple perspectives. Themes truth power propaganda Mood critical skeptical Type literary philosophical When to use this quote - political speeches - news reporting - educational curricula - legal testimony Key Concepts historical revisionism media manipulation Questions to Reflect On - What mechanisms guard against historical distortion? - How do we discern truth in conflicting accounts? A Different Perspective Even well‑intentioned narratives can become biased if unchecked. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Commandant Monstrous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/commandant-monstrous-2310908/) [Computers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/computers/) [Fictions Truth](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/fictions-truth-2310906/) [Friendship](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/friendship/) [History](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/history/) [Machine Commandant](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/machine-commandant-2310907/) [Truth](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/truth/) [Truth History](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/truth-history-1066658/) [Writer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/writer/) ## Related quotes > [The truth was, history repeated itself on a daily basis; mistakes were made over and over. People were haunted by what they had done,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jodi-picoult/the-truth-was-history-repeated-itself-on-a-daily-basis-mistakes-were/) [Jodi Picoult](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jodi-picoult/) > [There is the truth of history, and there is the truth of what a person remembers.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rebecca-wells/there-is-the-truth-of-history-and-there-is-the-truth-of-what-a-person/) [Rebecca Wells](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rebecca-wells/) > [Religion claims to be in possession of an absolute truth; but its history is a history of errors and heresies. It gives us the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ernst-cassirer/religion-claims-to-be-in-possession-of-an-absolute-truth-but-its/) [Ernst Cassirer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ernst-cassirer/) > [So very difficult a matter is it to trace and find out the truth of anything by history.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/plutarch/so-very-difficult-a-matter-is-it-to-trace-and-find-out-the-truth-of/) [Plutarch](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/plutarch/) > [There is time, and there is beyond time. History belongs to time, but truth belongs to what is beyond time. In writing of things…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/philip-pullman/there-is-time-and-there-is-beyond-time-history-belongs-to-time-but/) [Philip Pullman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/philip-pullman/) > [History knew the truth. History was the most inhuman product of humanity.It scooped up the whole of human will and, like the goddess Kali…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/yukio-mishima/history-knew-the-truth-history-was-the-most-inhuman-product-of/) [Yukio Mishima](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/yukio-mishima/) > [Poetry is nearer to vital truth than history.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/plato/poetry-is-nearer-to-vital-truth-than-history/) [Plato](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/plato/) > [“Faithfulness to the truth of history involves far more than research, however patient and scrupulous, into special facts. The narrator must seek to imbue…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/francis-parkman/faithfulness-to-the-truth-of-history-involves-far-more-than-research/) [Francis Parkman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/francis-parkman/) > [To hell with the truth! As the history of the world proves, the truth has no bearing on anything. It's irrelevant and immaterial, as…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eugene-o-neill/to-hell-with-the-truth-as-the-history-of-the-world-proves-the-truth/) [Eugene O'Neill](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eugene-o-neill/) > [“Is it true that man was once perfectly pure and innocent, and that he became degenerate by disobedience? No. The real truth is, and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-g-ingersoll/is-it-true-that-man-was-once-perfectly-pure-and-innocent-and-that-he/) [Robert G. Ingersoll](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-g-ingersoll/) > [The truth of history crowds out the truth of fiction - as if one were obliged to choose between them.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/susan-sontag/the-truth-of-history-crowds-out-the-truth-of-fiction-as-if-one-were/) [Susan Sontag](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/susan-sontag/) > [“The truth of history lies simultaneously in the substratum of created existence (since all beings are the willed realizations of God's love); in the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-d-zizoulas/the-truth-of-history-lies-simultaneously-in-the-substratum-of-created/) [John D. Zizoulas](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-d-zizoulas/) > [The truth is very important. No matter how negative it is, it is imperative that you learn the truth, not necessarily the facts. I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/maya-angelou/the-truth-is-very-important-no-matter-how-negative-it-is-it-is/) [Maya Angelou](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/maya-angelou/) > [“The received truth of history is shot through and falsified by unknown secrets carried to the grave.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/russell-banks/the-received-truth-of-history-is-shot-through-and-falsified-by/) [Russell Banks](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/russell-banks/) > [People bang on all the time about whether what I've done is the truth or not. Well, to me, history is just a series…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/peter-morgan/people-bang-on-all-the-time-about-whether-what-i-ve-done-is-the-truth/) [Peter Morgan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/peter-morgan/) ## More by Richard Flanagan > [I went to study at Oxford University in the 1980s on an imperial scholarship instituted by Cecil Rhodes.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-flanagan/i-went-to-study-at-oxford-university-in-the-1980s-on-an-imperial/) [Richard Flanagan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-flanagan/) > [Writing is not lying, nor is it theft. It is a journey and search for transparency between one’s words and one’s soul.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-flanagan/writing-is-not-lying-nor-is-it-theft-it-is-a-journey-and-search-for/) [Richard Flanagan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-flanagan/) > [In reading, you sense the divine: the things that are larger and greater and more mysterious than yourself.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-flanagan/in-reading-you-sense-the-divine-the-things-that-are-larger-and/) [Richard Flanagan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-flanagan/) > [Within white Australia, there was a growing movement for what was known as reconciliation - a movement that peaked with millions marching in 2000…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-flanagan/within-white-australia-there-was-a-growing-movement-for-what-was/) [Richard Flanagan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-flanagan/) > [In 1995, the Paul Keating Labor government commissioned an inquiry into the forcible removal of Aboriginal children.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-flanagan/in-1995-the-paul-keating-labor-government-commissioned-an-inquiry/) [Richard Flanagan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-flanagan/) > [Murder and hate are as deeply buried in the human heart as love, perhaps more so, and in truth they're rather entwined, and if…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-flanagan/murder-and-hate-are-as-deeply-buried-in-the-human-heart-as-love/) [Richard Flanagan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-flanagan/) > [My father was the first to read in his family, and he said to me that words were the first beautiful thing he ever…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-flanagan/my-father-was-the-first-to-read-in-his-family-and-he-said-to-me-that/) [Richard Flanagan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-flanagan/) > [I grew up in a world that was clannish - old Tasmanian-Irish families with big extended families.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-flanagan/i-grew-up-in-a-world-that-was-clannish-old-tasmanian-irish-families/) [Richard Flanagan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-flanagan/) > [If 30 Australians drowned in Sydney Harbour, it would be a national tragedy. But when 30 or more refugees drown off the Australian coast,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-flanagan/if-30-australians-drowned-in-sydney-harbour-it-would-be-a-national/) [Richard Flanagan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-flanagan/) > [The enslavement, humiliation, torture, and ultimate destruction of thousands upon thousands of human beings for a project for which there was ultimately no purpose…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-flanagan/the-enslavement-humiliation-torture-and-ultimate-destruction-of/) [Richard Flanagan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-flanagan/) > [In Tasmania, an island the size of Ireland whose primeval forests astonished 19th-century Europeans, an incomprehensible ecological tragedy is being played out.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-flanagan/in-tasmania-an-island-the-size-of-ireland-whose-primeval-forests/) [Richard Flanagan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-flanagan/) > [You have to attempt to find new forms that will force you to write freshly and better and hopefully more truthfully.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-flanagan/you-have-to-attempt-to-find-new-forms-that-will-force-you-to-write/) [Richard Flanagan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-flanagan/) > [My mother hoped I'd be a plumber.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-flanagan/my-mother-hoped-i-d-be-a-plumber/) [Richard Flanagan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-flanagan/) > [Family matters, friends matter, love matters. Those you love and who love you matter. That's what writing does - it allows you to say…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-flanagan/family-matters-friends-matter-love-matters-those-you-love-and-who/) [Richard Flanagan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-flanagan/) > [A good book ... leaves you wanting to reread the book. A great book compels you to reread your own soul.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-flanagan/a-good-book-leaves-you-wanting-to-reread-the-book-a-great-book/) [Richard Flanagan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-flanagan/) [Explore all 176 Richard Flanagan quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-flanagan/) ## More Computers quotes > [I don't understand why we're all connected wirelessly via a little machine that goes in our pocket, to everybody in the world, and you…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jon-m-chu/i-don-t-understand-why-we-re-all-connected-wirelessly-via-a-little/) [Jon M. Chu](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jon-m-chu/) > [“Probably it goes without saying, but time machine guys don't get a lot of action. Had a one night stand with something cute a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-yu/probably-it-goes-without-saying-but-time-machine-guys-don-t-get-a-lot/) [Charles Yu](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-yu/) > [The time that one gains cannot be accumulated in a storehouse; it is contradictory to want to save up existence, which, the fact is,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/simone-de-beauvoir/the-time-that-one-gains-cannot-be-accumulated-in-a-storehouse-it-is/) [Simone de Beauvoir](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/simone-de-beauvoir/) > [Issac:"I dislike living in a world without Augustus Waters." Computer: "I don't understand-" Issac: "Me neither. Pause](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-green/issac-i-dislike-living-in-a-world-without-augustus-waters-computer-i/) [John Green](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-green/) > [“Note found in the patron suggestion box: "You have SIGNS up near the computers that say BE QUIET, but people don't be quiet. They…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gina-sheridan/note-found-in-the-patron-suggestion-box-you-have-signs-up-near-the/) [Gina Sheridan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gina-sheridan/) > [“You weren't born to be a cog in the giant industrial machine. You were trained to become a cog. There's an alternative available to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/seth-godin/you-weren-t-born-to-be-a-cog-in-the-giant-industrial-machine-you-were/) [Seth Godin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/seth-godin/) > [If you stood me in a costume next to a computer graphic of the same-looking character, I think there would be a difference. And…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/warwick-davis/if-you-stood-me-in-a-costume-next-to-a-computer-graphic-of-the-same/) [Warwick Davis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/warwick-davis/) > [The corporate state is an immensely powerful machine, ordered, legalistic, rational, yet utterly out of human control, wholly and perfectly indifferent to any human…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-a-reich/the-corporate-state-is-an-immensely-powerful-machine-ordered/) [Charles A. Reich](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-a-reich/) > [The display is the computer.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jen-hsun-huang/the-display-is-the-computer/) [Jen-Hsun Huang](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jen-hsun-huang/) > [The popular mind often pictures gigantic flying machines speeding across the Atlantic carrying innumerable passengers in a way analogous to our modern steam ships.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-henry-pickering/the-popular-mind-often-pictures-gigantic-flying-machines-speeding/) [William Henry Pickering](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-henry-pickering/) > [“Alan Turing proposed the Turing Test: a computer is intelligent if you can't tell it from a human when you talk with it. No…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cjs-hayward/alan-turing-proposed-the-turing-test-a-computer-is-intelligent-if-you/) [CJS Hayward](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cjs-hayward/) > [Computers can be taught that certain tune or certain chords changes will sound pleasant together, but I don't think it's going to reach a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bonobo/computers-can-be-taught-that-certain-tune-or-certain-chords-changes/) [Bonobo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bonobo/) > [Can you imagine any better example of divine creative accomplishment that the consummate flying machine that is a bird? The skeleton, very flexible and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/guy-murchie/can-you-imagine-any-better-example-of-divine-creative-accomplishment/) [Guy Murchie](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/guy-murchie/) > [“According to this model, human beings are, at least in one aspect, sensation-receiving machines; and although our receptory apparatus is competent to select and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cruce-stark/according-to-this-model-human-beings-are-at-least-in-one-aspect/) [Cruce Stark](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cruce-stark/) > [As in any machine, all the wires must be connected to the mains through one main wire. In the same way, you all must…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nirmala-srivastava/as-in-any-machine-all-the-wires-must-be-connected-to-the-mains/) [Nirmala Srivastava](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nirmala-srivastava/) [Browse all 9,389 Computers quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/computers/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“-to judge us all through the machine of the Commandant's monstrous fictions! As though they were the truth! As though history & the written word were friends, rather than adversaries!”", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Richard Flanagan" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-flanagan/to-judge-us-all-through-the-machine-of-the-commandant-s-monstrous/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Computers" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-flanagan/to-judge-us-all-through-the-machine-of-the-commandant-s-monstrous/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/8ed/richard-flanagan-2253_computers_to-judge-us-all-through-the-machine-of-t_1025491.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/8ed/richard-flanagan-2253_computers_to-judge-us-all-through-the-machine-of-t_1025491.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/8ed/richard-flanagan-2253_computers_to-judge-us-all-through-the-machine-of-t_1025491.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“-to judge us all through the machine of the Commandant's monstrous fictions! As though they were the truth!…” — Richard Flanagan", "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": "Richard Flanagan", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-flanagan/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "“-to judge us all through the...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-flanagan/to-judge-us-all-through-the-machine-of-the-commandant-s-monstrous/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-flanagan/to-judge-us-all-through-the-machine-of-the-commandant-s-monstrous/#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 } } ] } ```