Welcome to our insightful collection of "Brave New World" quotes! In this article, we delve into the thought-provoking world of Aldous Huxley’s classic, exploring themes of individuality, society, and humanity. Huxley’s novel challenges readers to reflect on the complexities of modern existence and the impact of technological advancement on human life. Through ten poignant subtitles, each housing a dozen powerful quotes, we hope to capture the essence of the novel while evoking contemplative reflection. Whether you are revisiting familiar passages or encountering them for the first time, these quotes are sure to inspire you to think deeply about the world and your place within it.
Freedom and Conformity Quotes
"Community, Identity, Stability."
"One believes things because one has been conditioned to believe them."
"Everyone belongs to everyone else."
"Books and loud noises, flowers and electric shocks—already in the infant mind these couples were compromisingly linked."
"You can’t consume much if you sit still and read books."
"Words can be like X-rays if you use them properly—they’ll go through anything."
"A gramme is better than a damn."
"All conditioning aims at that: making people like their inescapable social destiny."
"When the individual feels, the community reels."
"Stability. No civilization without social stability. No social stability without individual stability."
"The more stitches, the less riches; the more stitches, the less riches."
"History is bunk."
Identity and Society Quotes
"What fun it would be if one didn’t have to think about happiness!"
"We are not our own any more than what we possess is our own."
"Actual happiness always looks pretty squalid in comparison with the overcompensations for misery."
"Till at last the child’s mind is these suggestions, and the sum of the suggestions is the child’s mind."
"The secret of happiness and virtue—liking what you’ve got to do."
"I want to feel something strongly."
"You’ve got to choose between happiness and what people used to call high art."
"No social stability without individual stability."
"Being contented has none of the glamour of a good fight against misfortune."
"You can’t have a lasting civilization without plenty of pleasant vices."
"We can make a new beginning."
"Ending is better than mending."
Technology and Control Quotes
"Progress is lovely, isn’t it?"
"The social body persists although the component cells may change."
"Cleanliness is next to fordliness."
"Civilization is sterilization."
"Alphas are so conditioned that they do not have to be infantile."
"The optimum population is modeled on the iceberg—eight-ninths below the water line, one-ninth above."
"Was and will make me ill, I take a gram and only am."
"Barring accidents, the Ganger is going to grow old."
"Alpha children wear grey. They work much harder than we do."
"The overalls of the workers were white, their hands gloved with a pale corpselike rubber."
"All men are physic-chemically equal."
"The more wheels the better."
Humanity and Sacrifice Quotes
"But I don’t want comfort, I want God, I want poetry, I want real danger, I want freedom, I want goodness, I want sin."
"Chronic remorse... is a most undesirable sentiment."
"They’re so conditioned that they practically can’t help behaving as they ought to behave."
"Is it better to have a gram or a damn?"
"Words can be like X-rays if you use them properly—they’ll go through anything."
"You can’t have a lasting civilization without plenty of pleasant vices."
"Being contented has none of the glamour of a good fight against misfortune."
"The concept of crazy isn’t the chaotic standard it once was."
"A love of nature keeps no factories busy."
"Art, science—you seem to have paid a fairly high price for your happiness."
"But I think remember a tear she shed for you last night."
"An unfamiliar alien setting that had changed all of a sudden."
Fear and Security Quotes
"A love of nature keeps no factories busy."
"All men are physic-chemically equal."
"The social body persists although the component cells may change."
"Slogans covered up lines getting longer and longer."
"The inexorable rhythm of floating fate."
"Our world is not the same without diversity."
"Ending is better than mending."
"A gramme in time saves nine."
"The optimum population is modeled on the iceberg—8/9ths below the water line, 1/9th above."
"You can’t have a lasting civilization without plenty of pleasant vices."
"What would happen if we all uncontrollably started desiring... anything?"
"Strength through self-knowledge and beauty through self-preservation of the species."
Reality and Illusion Quotes
"The happiest worlds, as they say, are worlds in which choice and free will are illusions."
"The use of applied psychology varies from context to context."
"The price of absolute stability is absolute oblivion."
"The more stitches, the less riches; the more stitches, the less riches."
"A love of nature keeps no factories busy."
"We must discover new facts, learn to see them as they really are."
"Words can be like X-rays if you use them properly—they’ll go through anything."
"'What’s a fault about a purified civilization?'"
"What's kept America free has been its ability to restate fundamental challenges."
"The futurists’ great conundrum is that, eventually, the current state of the future will also be passé."
"Fixing problems perpetuates problems: the more places you fix, the more that get worse."
"A utopia is where too much is never enough."
Knowledge and Ignorance Quotes
"What’s a fault about a purified civilization?"
"The brutish and short exit from life it refrains one from long oblivion."
"The happier ones, as they say, do not stay grounded for long."
"Nothing is burned, and yet ever-changing."
"Science, every humming hour of every humming day, for all eternity."
"We must discover new facts, learn to see them as they really are."
"The ultimate power lies in the ability to decide when and why to know."
"The use of applied psychology varies from context to context."
"The new order must constantly be nourished by fresh wisdom."
"The surest way to predict the future is to invent it."
"Thinking in your cortex is being yourself in your perception of higher reality."
"A complex is already a world of knowledge on its own."
Truth and Deception Quotes
"True peace of mind comes from accepting the worst—your own insignificance in the grand scheme."
"The happiest individuals are the masters of suppressing the truth."
"The removal or rewriting of facts cannot change what's true."
"None are so hopelessly enslaved as those who falsely believe they are free."
"When you don't know what you're talking about, it's hard to accurately clarify others."
"Trust is the first victim of mass ignorance."
"It's the fear of knowing the truth; the thrill of going without it."
"Knowledge cuts but every angle has its value."
"No truer words have ever been spoken yet often go disregarded."
"A little ignorance is a dangerous thing."
"The seesaw between reality and make-believe teeters perpetually."
"The truth is metamorphosized on the whims of social appetite."
Hope and Despair Quotes
"Despair is the necessary precursor to hope in a brave new world."
"There can be no utopia without managing the despair of the displaced."
"Realizing despair creates resilient hope."
"How can you plan future worlds fertile in optimism without acknowledging seeds of sorrow?"
"The paradox of straining hope beyond its limits brings despair and dissolution."
"Balancing hope in endless possibility with the acceptance of limitation."
"Despair-alpha is for when hope runs dry."
"One man's foresight is another man's folly."
"Hope persists where common sense retreats."
"A dream unattainable fuels the strongest belief in delusions."
"Holding hope within the harsh face of reality's endless disruptions."
"When despair meets bravery, a new horizon is made possible."
Love and Happiness Quotes
"True affection is found when love is liberated from the bondage of expectation."
"Where there is love in the heart, happiness cannot be far apart."
"Given the right conditions, every sense of love can find its vein of fortune."
"In a world manufactured for bliss, genuine happiness still seeks authenticity."
"Loving without condition reflects a pioneering spirit of true happiness."
"Real happiness transcends all the synthetic joys a conditioned world could offer."
"Only educated love endures the test of reality's frank exposure."
"In one heart lies the secret key; the path bridging love unto true liberty spiral."
"Find the knowledge in love and the joy in truth."
"No sentiment is truer than one born from mutual respect."
"Immutable truth lies in a love that has learned outdoor balance in an indoor society."
"The happiness of the heart beats strongest to the rhythm of understanding."
Final Words
Examining the profound themes and intricate motifs of Aldous Huxley’s "Brave New World" reveals a deep and often unsettling reflection on our own society. By engaging with the thought-provoking and often prescient quotes, we can gain invaluable insights into the contradictions and challenges posed by modern civilization. These quotes bridge multiple aspects of the human experience, questioning the balance between freedom and control, identity and conformity, and truth and deception. Ultimately, Huxley’s novel compels us to reflect on the destiny humanity faces as technology continues to redefine our realities. As we ponder the implications of Huxley's words, we are reminded of the enduring power of speculative fiction to challenge our perceptions and inspire critical thought. In a world of constant change, may these quotes serve as a catalyst for profound introspection and meaningful dialogue about our collective future.
