167+ Brave New World Quotes [Important Quotes, Technology Quotes]

“Brave New World” is a dystopian novel written by Aldous Huxley in 1932. It explores a future society where people are genetically engineered and conditioned to live in a world where pleasure and consumption are the primary objectives.

The novel is full of quotes that reflect the unique characteristics of this world. Here are some important quotes that highlight the novel’s themes of technology and control:

Important Quotes:

• “Community, Identity, Stability.” – This quote reflects the World State’s primary values. The society in “Brave New World” prioritizes the collective over the individual, and community is emphasized over personal desires.
• “Everyone belongs to everyone else.” – This quote reflects the World State’s attitude toward relationships. The society encourages promiscuity and considers monogamy to be primitive.
• “Ending is better than mending.” – This quote reflects the society’s attitude toward consumerism. Rather than repairing old items, people are encouraged to buy new ones.

Technology Quotes:

• “All the advantages of Christianity and alcohol; none of their defects.” – This quote highlights the role of technology in the novel. The society in “Brave New World” uses technology to create a world without pain or suffering, but also without passion or emotion.
• “Sixty-two thousand four hundred repetitions make one truth.” – This quote reflects the role of conditioning in the novel. The society uses Pavlovian techniques to condition its citizens to accept its values and beliefs.
• “Progress is lovely, isn’t it?” – This quote reflects the society’s attitude toward progress and technology. The society values progress above all else and views technological advances as a sign of its success.

Overall, “Brave New World” is a cautionary tale about the dangers of using technology to control society.

The quotes in the novel reflect the unique characteristics of this dystopian world and highlight the importance of individual freedom and autonomy.

We have many quotes from the book to explore in this article.

Let’s take a look.

Brave New World Quotes

Some quotes from “Brave New World”:

1. “A gramme in time saves nine.”
2. “Actual happiness always looks pretty squalid in comparison with the overcompensations for misery.”
3. “Everyone belongs to everyone else.”
4. “One cubic centimeter cures ten gloomy sentiments.”
5. “The more stitches, the less riches.”
6. History is bunk.
7. “The best science is a happy man.”
8. “The world’s stable now. People are happy; they get what they want, and they never want what they can’t get.”
9. “The greater a man’s talents, the greater his power to lead astray.”
10. “Ending is better than mending.”
11. “God isn’t compatible with machinery and scientific medicine and universal happiness.”
12. “I don’t want comfort. I want God, I want poetry, I want real danger, I want freedom, I want goodness. I want sin.”
13. “O brave new world that has such people in it.”
14. “That’s the price we have to pay for stability.”
15. “What man has joined, nature is powerless to put asunder.”
16. “All conditioning aims at that: making people like their unescapable social destiny.”
17. “Better than nature!”
18. “Sleep teaching was actually prohibited in England.”
19. “Progress is lovely, isn’t it?”
20. “The world’s stable now. People are happy; they get what they want, and they never want what they can’t get.”
21. “I’m claiming the right to be unhappy.”
22. “Every one works for every one else.”
23. “The conditioning of the masses.”
24. “Happiness is never grand.”
25. “The mind that judges and desires and decides–made up of these suggestions. But all these suggestions are our suggestions!”
26. “I suppose Epsilons don’t really mind being Epsilons.”
27. “They were born together, grew up together, and now they were suffering together–all in the impersonal majesty of the state.”
28. “Universal happiness keeps the wheels steadily turning; truth and beauty can’t.”
29. “No civilization without social stability.”
30. “What’s the point of truth or beauty or knowledge when anthrax bombs are popping all around you?”
31. “Till at last the child’s mind is these suggestions, and the sum of the suggestions is the child’s mind.”
32. “Actual happiness always looks pretty squalid in comparison with the overcompensations for misery.”
33. “Words can be like X-rays if you use them properly — they’ll go through anything.”
34. “They’ll have that repeated forty or fifty times more before they wake; then again on Thursday, and again on Saturday.”
35. “Do you remember that bit in King Lear?”
36. “In the end, they’ll beat you with experience.”
37. “What is the point of a book when one can have a gramme?”
38. “Humanity is interesting only in the abstract.”
39. “Ending is better than mending.”
40. “There was something called democracy.”
41. “People believe in God because they’ve been conditioned to believe in God.”
42. “Actual happiness always looks pretty squalid in comparison with the overcompensations for misery.”
43. “Sixty-two thousand four hundred repetitions make one truth.”
44. “When the individual feels, the community reels.”
45. “All the fetal conditioning, hypnopaedic training, and drug dosing in the world cannot make a human being into a machine.”
46. “Alpha children wear grey. They work much harder than we do, because they’re so frightfully clever. I’m awfully glad I’m a Beta because I don’t work so hard. And then we are much better than the Gammas and Deltas. Gammas are stupid. They all wear green, and Delta children wear khaki. Oh no, I don’t want to play with Delta children. And Epsilons are still worse. They’re too stupid to be able to read or write. Besides they wear black, which is such a beastly color. I’m so glad I’m a Beta.”
47. “I’d rather be myself. Myself and nasty. Not somebody else, however jolly.”
48. “You’ve got to choose between happiness and what people used to call high art. We’ve sacrificed the high art.”
49. “But if anything should go wrong, there’s always soma.”
50. “A gramme in time saves nine, but it must be a real gramme. Not one of those essence of gramme tablets.”
51. “Till at last the child’s mind is these suggestions, and the sum of the suggestions is the child’s mind. And not the child’s mind only. The adult’s mind too–all his life long. The mind that judges and desires and decides–made up of these suggestions. But all these suggestions are our suggestions!”
52. “The people who govern us nowadays are philosophers and the scientists. They know what they want and they’re going to get it.”
53. “Actual happiness always looks pretty squalid in comparison with the overcompensations for misery.”
54. “Beauty’s attractive, and we don’t want anybody to be attracted by old things. We want them to like the new ones.”
55. “There is no happiness for people at the expense of other people.”
56. “The more stitches, the less riches.”
57. “I don’t understand anything,” she said with decision, determined to preserve her incomprehension intact. “Nothing. Least of all,” she continued in another tone “why you don’t take soma when you have these dreadful ideas of yours. You’d forget all about them. And instead of feeling miserable, you’d be jolly. So jolly,”
58. “Our civilization has chosen machinery and medicine and happiness.”
59. “One of the principal functions of a friend is to suffer (in a milder and symbolic form) the punishments that we should like, but are unable, to inflict upon our enemies.”
60. “We prefer to do things comfortably.”
61. “You’ve got to choose between happiness and what people used to call high art. We’ve sacrificed the high art.”
62. “The mind that judges and desires and decides–made up of these suggestions. But all these suggestions are our suggestions!”
63. “No social stability without individual stability.”
64. “The world is stable now. People are happy; they get what they want, and they never want what they can’t get. They’re well off; they’re safe; they’re never ill; they’re not afraid of death; they’re blissfully ignorant of passion and old age; they’re plagued with no mothers or fathers; they’ve got no wives, or children, or lovers to feel strongly about; they’re so conditioned that they practically can’t help behaving as they ought to behave.”
65. “You’re so conditioned to be an Epsilon, you can’t help feeling inferior.”
66. “The power of suggestion. That’s the key. We’ve made the complete conquest of the individual will.”
67. “No conditioning is irresistible.”
68. “It isn’t only art that’s incompatible with happiness; it’s also science. Science is dangerous; we have to keep it most carefully chained and muzzled.”
69. “The human spirit needs to accomplish, to achieve, to triumph to be happy. But precisely these things which belong to the realm of politics or of the intricate games of competitive industry are not compatible with the conditions of absolute rule which the party now requires.”
70. “The world’s stable now. People are happy; they get what they want, and they never want what they can’t get.”
71. “We’ve got to have a snappy slogan if we’re going to rule the world together.”
72. “The more stitches, the less riches.”
73. “Why do you always go about together in fours?” “It’s one of the conditions,” said Bernard stiffly. “Males, more than one, are too self-absorbed to be really interested in others. We bond because we’ve been taught to bond.”
74. “Actual happiness always looks pretty squalid in comparison with the overcompensations for misery.”
75. “It is not possible to keep a population in thrall if they have any sense of solidarity. Solidarity is not possible if the individuals are too completely atomized.”
76. “Science is dangerous; we have to keep it most carefully chained and muzzled.”
77. “The people who govern us nowadays are philosophers and the scientists. They know what they want and they’re going to get it.”
78. “One day the chemical and electrical conditioning machines might be broken. But till then we can’t do without them.”
79. “We can’t do without any of it. No civilization without social stability. No social stability without individual stability.”
80. “We are not our own any more than what we possess is our own.”
81. “To the controllers of this world, God is unnecessary. Science has made him obsolete.”
82. “The greatest moralizing and socializing force of all time has been the book club.”
83. “They’ll have that repeated forty or fifty times more before they wake; then again on Thursday, and again on Saturday.”
84. “The optimum population is modeled on the iceberg – eight-ninths below the water line, one-ninth above.”
85. “And that,” put in the Director sententiously, “that is the secret of happiness and virtue — liking what you’ve got to do. All conditioning aims at that: making people like their unescapable social destiny.”
86. “There isn’t any need for a civilized man to bear anything that’s seriously unpleasant.”
87. “And don’t forget that, besides contraceptives, there are always soma and hypnopaedia to give you a holiday from the facts.”
88. “Chronic remorse, as all the moralists are agreed, is a most undesirable sentiment. If you have behaved badly, repent, make what amends you can and address yourself to the task of behaving better next time. On no account brood over your wrongdoing. Rolling in the muck is not the best way of getting clean.”
89. “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.”
90. “Everyone works for everyone else. We can’t do without any one. Even Epsilons are useful. We couldn’t do without Epsilons. Every one works for every one else. We can’t do without any one.”
91. “The aim of the World State is not happiness. Stability is the aim.”
92. “We make them hate solitude; and we arrange their lives so that it’s almost impossible for them to ever have it.”
93. “The perfect drug. Euphoric, narcotic, pleasantly hallucinant.”
94. “When the individual feels, the community reels.”
95. “Perhaps you’re planning a very small unorthodoxy?”
96. “I don’t want to play with Delta children. And Epsilons are still worse.”
97. “What you need,” the Savage went on, “is something with tears for a change. Nothing costs enough here.”
98. “A gramme is better than a damn.”
99. “But God’s the reason for everything noble and fine and heroic. If you had a God, you’d have a reason for noble things.”
100. “All the fetal conditioning, hypnopaedic training, and drug dosing in the world cannot make a human being into a machine.”
101. “One cubic centimeter cures ten gloomy sentiments.”
102. “Beauty’s attractive, and we don’t want anybody to be attracted by old things. We want them to like the new ones.”
103. “It is better to be happy than to be right.”
104. “Chronic remorse, as all the moralists are agreed, is a most undesirable sentiment.”
105. “They say somebody made the show up, that there wasn’t any Savage Reservation really. That it was just a story to make people feel bad. Anyhow, they went on and on about how the Savage ate people up.”
106. “Stability wasn’t nearly so spectacular as instability. And being contented has none of the glamour of a good fight against misfortune, none of the picturesqueness of a struggle with temptation, or a fatal overthrow by passion or doubt. Happiness is never grand.”
107. “The more stitches, the less riches.”
108. “We’ve gone on controlling ever since. It hasn’t been very good for truth, of course. But it’s been very good for happiness. One can’t have something for nothing. Happiness has got to be paid for.”
109. “The people who have been most responsible for the preservation of freedom and the encouragement of science have been the heretics.”
110. “The people who govern us nowadays are philosophers and the scientists. They know what they want and they’re going to get it.”
111. “The human spirit needs to accomplish, to achieve, to triumph to be happy. But precisely these things which belong to the realm of politics or of the intricate games of competitive industry are not compatible with the conditions of absolute rule which the party now requires.”
112. “Universal happiness keeps the wheels steadily turning; truth and beauty can’t.”
113. “They’re well off; they’re safe; they’re never ill; they’re not afraid of death; they’re blissfully ignorant of passion and old age; they’re plagued with no mothers or fathers; they’ve got no wives, or children, or lovers to feel strongly about; they’re so conditioned that they practically can’t help behaving as they ought to behave.”
114. “I’m claiming the right to be unhappy.”
115. “One believes things because one has been conditioned to believe them.”
116. “The human race is obsessed with its own fictions.”
117. “We condition the masses to hate the country; but simultaneously we condition them to love all countries.”

4 Quotes From Brave New World That Have Come True

Most Important Brave New World Quotes

Most Important Brave New World Quotes:

1. “Community, Identity, Stability” – This is the motto of the World State, emphasizing the importance of conformity and sameness in maintaining social order.
2. “Ending is better than mending” – This quote represents the society’s attitude towards consumption and the disposal of goods, rather than repairing or reusing them.
3. “Everyone belongs to everyone else” – This quote emphasizes the communal nature of relationships in the World State, where sexual promiscuity is encouraged and individual relationships are discouraged.
4. “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.” – This quote, spoken by the character John, represents his rejection of the World State’s values and his desire for authentic human experiences.
5. “History is bunk” – This quote represents the World State’s rejection of the past and their focus on the present and future.
6. “Words can be like X-rays if you use them properly — they’ll go through anything. You read and you’re pierced.” – This quote represents the power of language and its ability to influence and shape individual thought and perception.
7. “Not to mention the right to grow old and ugly and impotent; the right to have syphilis and cancer; the right to have too little to eat; the right to be lousy; the right to live in constant apprehension of what may happen tomorrow; the right to catch typhoid; the right to be tortured by unspeakable pains of every kind.” – This quote, spoken by the character Mustapha Mond, emphasizes the sacrifices made in the pursuit of stability and happiness in the World State.
8. “Happiness is a hard master–particularly other people’s happiness.” – This quote represents the idea that the pursuit of happiness can be at odds with individual autonomy and freedom.
9. “You’ve got to choose between happiness and what people used to call high art.” – This quote represents the tension between individual creativity and expression, and the desire for conformity and stability in the World State.
10. “You can’t consume much if you sit still and read books.” – This quote represents the World State’s emphasis on mindless entertainment and distraction, rather than intellectual pursuits.

Famous Brave New World Quotes

Famous Brave New World Quotes:

1. “The best works of art are the expression of man’s struggle to free himself from this condition, but the effect of our art is merely to make this low state comfortable and that higher state to be forgotten.” – This quote, spoken by the character Helmholtz Watson, represents the idea that art can be used to either challenge or reinforce societal norms.
2. “One believes things because one has been conditioned to believe them.” – This quote represents the power of conditioning and its ability to shape individual beliefs and perceptions.
3. “You’re free to do what you want, but you can’t want what you ought.” – This quote represents the tension between individual desire and societal expectations in the World State.
4. “The conditioning now starts at six months instead of sixteen years. And by the time they’re grown-up, their minds have been conditioned into infantile state.” – This quote represents the extreme level of control exerted by the World State over individual development and thought.
5. “They’re well off; they’re safe; they’re never ill; they’re not afraid of death; they’re blissfully ignorant of passion and old age; they’re plagued with no mothers or fathers; they’ve got no wives, or children, or lovers to feel strongly about; they’re so conditioned that they practically can’t help behaving as they ought to behave.” – This quote, spoken by the character Mustapha Mond, represents the World State’s ideal of a perfect, conformist society, free from the struggles and complexities of human relationships.
6. “And that,” put in the Director sententiously, “that is the secret of happiness and virtue — liking what you’ve got to do. All conditioning aims at that: making people like their unescapable social destiny.” – This quote represents the World State’s belief that individuals can find happiness and fulfillment in accepting and embracing their predetermined roles in society.
7. “Did you ever feel, as though you had something inside you that was only waiting for you to give it a chance to come out? Some sort of extra power that you aren’t using – you know, like all the water that goes down the falls instead of through the turbines?” – This quote, spoken by the character Bernard Marx, represents the desire for individual potential and creativity, in contrast to the World State’s emphasis on conformity and stability.
8. “Actual happiness always looks pretty squalid in comparison with the overcompensations for misery. And, of course, stability isn’t nearly so spectacular as instability. And being contented has none of the glamour of a good fight against misfortune, none of the picturesqueness of a struggle with temptation, or a fatal overthrow by passion or doubt. Happiness is never grand.” – This quote represents the tension between the pursuit of happiness and the desire for excitement and drama in life.
9. “But I like the inconveniences.” “We don’t,” said the Controller. “We prefer to do things comfortably.” – This exchange between the characters Mustapha Mond and John represents the tension between individual desire and societal expectations in the World State.
10. “You’ve got to be hurt and upset; otherwise you can’t think of the really good, penetrating, X-rayish phrases.” – This quote, spoken by the character Helmholtz Watson, represents the idea that creativity and intellectual insight can come from personal struggle and emotional pain.

Brave New World Technology Quotes

Brave New World Hypnopaedia Quotes

Brave New World Hypnopaedia Quotes:

1. “All conditioning aims at that: making people like their unescapable social destiny.” – This quote represents the power of hypnopaedia, a form of subconscious suggestion through sleep conditioning, in shaping individual thought and behavior in the World State.
2. “Sleep teaching was actually prohibited in England. There was something called liberalism. Parliament, if you know what that was, passed a law against it. The records survive.” – This quote represents the dystopian nature of the World State, where individual autonomy and freedom are sacrificed in the pursuit of social order and stability.
3. “One cubic centimetre cures ten gloomy sentiments.” – This quote represents the World State’s use of hypnopaedia to control and suppress negative emotions and individuality.
4. “All the tonic effects of murdering Desdemona and being murdered by Othello, without any of the inconveniences.” – This quote represents the World State’s use of hypnopaedia to provide individuals with the illusion of intense emotional experiences, without the risks and complexities of real relationships and emotions.
5. “Everybody’s happy now.” – This phrase is repeated throughout the hypnopaedic recordings in the World State, representing the emphasis on conformity and sameness in the society.
6. “Alpha children wear grey. They work much harder than we do, because they’re so frightfully clever. I’m really awfully glad I’m a Beta, because I don’t work so hard. And then we are much better than the Gammas and Deltas. Gammas are stupid. They all wear green, and Delta children wear khaki. Oh no, I don’t want to play with Delta children. And Epsilons are still worse. They’re too stupid to be able to read or write. Besides they wear black, which is such a beastly color. I’m so glad I’m a Beta.” – This quote represents the World State’s use of hypnopaedia to reinforce social hierarchies and class distinctions, as well as to promote conformity and obedience.
7. “Ending is better than mending.” “The more stitches, the less riches.” – These quotes, spoken during hypnopaedic conditioning, represent the World State’s attitude towards consumption and the disposal of goods, rather than repairing or reusing them.
8. “Ending is better than mending, ending is better than mending.” – This phrase is repeated during hypnopaedic conditioning, emphasizing the World State’s emphasis on consumption and instant gratification, rather than preservation and sustainability.
9. “We also predestine and condition. We decant our babies as socialized human beings, as Alphas or Epsilons, as future sewage workers or future… Directors of Hatcheries.” – This quote represents the World State’s use of hypnopaedia to reinforce predetermined social roles and discourage individuality and autonomy.
10. “A gramme is better than a damn.” – This phrase is repeated during hypnopaedic conditioning, emphasizing the World State’s emphasis on the use of the drug Soma to suppress negative emotions and promote conformity.

Brave New World Power Quotes

FAQs – Brave New World Quotes

Why did Brave New World become such a famous book?

“Brave New World” is a famous novel written by Aldous Huxley, first published in 1932.

The book is often cited as one of the most influential dystopian novels of the 20th century.

It gained its fame and popularity due to several factors:

1. It presented a thought-provoking view of the future. The novel is set in a futuristic society where people are conditioned from birth to behave in specific ways. This idea of conditioning and control of individuals, especially in a world that was experiencing rapid technological advancements, captivated readers’ imaginations.
2. It portrayed a warning about the dangers of technology and progress. Huxley’s book argued that unchecked scientific advancement could lead to a dehumanized and shallow society. This idea resonated with readers who were concerned about the rapid technological changes taking place in their world.
3. It explored themes of individuality, conformity, and freedom. These were themes that were relevant in the 1930s, as people were grappling with the rise of totalitarian regimes in Europe. Huxley’s book provided a commentary on the dangers of a conformist society and the importance of individual freedom.
4. The book was well-written and received critical acclaim. The book’s style was innovative and experimental, and it was well-received by literary critics. It became an instant bestseller and has remained popular ever since.

Overall, “Brave New World” became famous because it presented a compelling and thought-provoking vision of the future, explored themes that were relevant to its time, and was well-written and critically acclaimed.

What is the background on why Aldous Huxley wrote Brave New World?

Aldous Huxley wrote “Brave New World” in 1931, and it was published in 1932. The novel is a dystopian science-fiction work set in the year 2540, in a future world where people are genetically engineered, socially conditioned, and kept content with a drug called soma.

Huxley’s inspiration for the book came from a variety of sources. He was interested in the ideas of social and genetic engineering, which were being discussed at the time by scientists and intellectuals. He also drew on his own experiences of living in a world that was rapidly changing due to advances in technology and industry.

In addition, Huxley was concerned about the direction that society was heading in the early 20th century. He was critical of what he saw as the dehumanizing effects of mass production, consumerism, and conformity. He believed that the pursuit of pleasure and efficiency was leading to a loss of individuality and spiritual values.

All of these themes are explored in “Brave New World,” which portrays a society that has taken these trends to their logical extreme. The novel was meant to be a warning about the dangers of unchecked technological progress and the loss of humanity that can result from it.

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