22 Key Quotes from the novel Animal Farm
Animal Farm was the first book in which I tried, with full consciousness of what I was doing, to fuse political purpose and artistic purpose into one whole. – George Orwell (Why I Write)
Animal Farm is an allegorical and satirical novel by George Orwell, published in 1945. It presents a fantastic satire about revolution, power, and corruption. According to Orwell, Animal Farm reflects the events during and after the Russian Revolution and under Stalin’s rule of the Soviet Union.
Animal Farm has picked up several major awards (Retrospective Hugo Award in 1996) and found a place on several prestigious lists (100 best English-language novels (1923 to 2005) by Time magazine and Modern Library List of Best 20th-Century Novels).
Animal Farm has two film adaptations, in 1954 as an animated feature and 1999 as a TV live-action version.
Below are the most important quotes from this famous novel.
Man is the only real enemy we have. Remove Man from the scene, and the root cause of hunger and overwork is abolished for ever.(Secker & Warburg, ed. 1945), Chapter I, Page 8
Man is the only creature that consumes without producing.(Secker & Warburg, ed. 1945), Chapter I, Page 8
Man serves the interests of no creature except himself.(Secker & Warburg, ed. 1945), Chapter I, Page 10
Can you not understand that liberty is worth more than ribbons? (Secker & Warburg, ed. 1945), Chapter II, Page 15
1. Whatever goes upon two legs is an enemy.
2. Whatever goes upon four legs, or has wings, is a friend.
3. No animal shall wear clothes.
4. No animal shall sleep in a bed.
5. No animal shall drink alcohol.
6. No animal shall kill any other animal.
7. All animals are equal.
(Secker & Warburg, ed. 1945), Chapter II, Page 21
Windmill or no windmill, he said, life would go on as it had always gone on – that is, badly. (Secker & Warburg, ed. 1945), Chapter V, Page 41
Several of them would have protested if they could have found the right arguments. (Secker & Warburg, ed. 1945), Chapter V, Page 44
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Work was strictly voluntary, but any animal who absented himself from it would have his rations reduced by half. (Secker & Warburg, ed. 1945), Chapter VI, Page 48
They were always cold, and usually hungry as well. (Secker & Warburg, ed. 1945), Chapter VII, Page 58
No animal shall kill any other animal without cause. (Secker & Warburg, ed. 1945), Chapter VIII, Page 73
Besides, in those days they had been slaves and now they were free, and that made all the difference. (Secker & Warburg, ed. 1945), Chapter IX, Page 87
Somehow it seemed as though the farm had grown richer without making the animals themselves any richer – except, of course, for the pigs and the dogs. (Secker & Warburg, ed. 1945), Chapter X, Page 100
ALL ANIMALS ARE EQUAL BUT SOME ANIMALS ARE MORE EQUAL THAN OTHERS.(Secker & Warburg, ed. 1945), Chapter X, Page
The creatures outside looked from pig to man, and from man to pig, and from pig to man again; but already it was impossible to say which was which.(Secker & Warburg, ed. 1945), Chapter X, Page 110
FAQs
"All animals are equal but some animals are more equal than others."
"Mr. Jones, of the Manor Farm, had locked the hen-houses for the night, but was too drunk to remember to shut the popholes. With the ring of light from his lantern dancing from side to side, he lurched across the yard, kicked off his boots at the back door, drew himself a last glass of beer from the barrel in the scullery, and made his way up to bed, where Mrs. Jones was already snoring."
"Twelve voices were shouting in anger, and they were all alike. No question, now, what had happened to the faces of the pigs. The creatures outside looked from pig to man, and from man to pig, and from pig to man again; but already it was impossible to say which was which."