Hannah Arendt — Quote from The Origins of Totalitarianism
“The ideal subject of totalitarian rule is not the convinced Nazi or the convinced Communist, but people for whom the distinction between fact and fiction and the distinction between true and false no longer exist.”
The Origins of Totalitarianism (1951)
Concepts: totalitarianism, conformity, authenticity
Resonant Quotes
- “Above all, don't lie to yourself. The man who lies to himself and listens to ...” — Fyodor Dostoevsky, The Brothers Karamazov Dostoevsky's individual who destroys his capacity to distinguish truth becomes Arendt's perfect totalitarian subject ...
- “Believing and devouring — a peculiarly German process.” — Günter Grass, The Tin Drum Grass's 'believing and devouring' perfectly describes Arendt's ideal totalitarian subject—one who consumes ideology s...
- “In a time of universal deceit, telling the truth is a revolutionary act.” — George Orwell, Nineteen Eighty-Four Orwell's emphasis on truth as revolutionary and Arendt's analysis of destroyed factual distinctions both illuminate h...
- “If the main pillar of the system is living a lie, then it is not surprising t...” — Václav Havel, The Power of the Powerless Havel's 'living a lie' and Arendt's collapse of truth-fiction distinctions describe the same totalitarian epistemic c...
- “We are what we pretend to be, so we must be careful about what we pretend to be.” — Kurt Vonnegut, Mother Night Arendt's observation about the collapse of truth-distinctions finds its psychological mechanism in Vonnegut's warning...
- “So long as man remains free he strives for nothing so incessantly and so pain...” — Fyodor Dostoevsky, The Brothers Karamazov Both diagnose the human susceptibility to totalitarianism — Dostoevsky identifying the desperate need for authority t...
- “Freedom is the freedom to say that two plus two make four. If that is granted...” — George Orwell, Nineteen Eighty-Four Orwell's defense of mathematical truth directly counters Arendt's description of totalitarian success in destroying c...
- “Political language is designed to make lies sound truthful and murder respect...” — George Orwell, Politics and the English Language Orwell's analysis of how political language obscures truth complements Arendt's insight about how totalitarian system...