The 42 best famous quotes by Aldous Huxley, a dystopian writer.

Author of "Brave New World", Huxley discovers his pessimistic philosophy through his famous quotes.

Aldous Huxley (1894 - 1963) was a renowned philosopher and writer of essays and novels born in Godalming, England. Author of dystopian works of great value for the social criticism of his time, he reached international popularity with Brave New World. He also has other books to his credit, such as The Doors of Perception and The Island, equally acclaimed works.

In his tender youth, when he was only 16 years old, Huxley suffered a sudden illness and became practically blind. With remarkable tenacity and willpower, Huxley learned to read Braille. Fortunately, he was able to regain much of his vision over the years.

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Aldous Huxley Quotes and Phrases

Tireless traveler, Huxley discovers a world in which the forces of power dominate the masses, submissive and entertained, at their pleasure..

In this post we are going to know some of the best quotes by Aldous Huxley. They are famous quotes that have gone down in history for their depth.

1. A lie with interest can be uncovered by a dull truth.

On the power of manipulation, especially in the media.

2. Seeing ourselves as others see us is an extremely convenient gift.

The vision that others have of us and the gift of knowing how to recognize ourselves in those external glances.

3. All men are gods to their dog. That is why there are people who love their dogs more than men.

Controversial phrase about the affection between man and dog.

4. A real orgy never excites as much as a pornographic book.

The best possible sex is in the imagination.

5. To know is relatively easy. To want and to act according to what one would like is always harder.

Pure knowledge versus ethics.

6. Civilization is, among other things, the process by which primitive herds are transformed into a crude and mechanical analogy of the organic communities of social insects.

A great metaphor for understanding the development of societies.

7. The bourgeois is the perfect domesticated human animal.

A critique by Aldous Huxley of small businessmen.

8. There is at least one corner of the universe that you can certainly improve, and that is yourself.

On the ability to promote change starting with oneself.

9. Happiness is never great.

According to this great phrase by Huxley, there is always some aspect of our existence that we can worry about.

10. We participate in a tragedy; in a comedy we only watch.

One's own life history is always lived with a certain touch of anguish.

11. Each generation thinks it can be more intelligent than the previous one.

A superb trait that characterizes evolution.

12. But I do not want comfort. I want God, I want poetry, I want true risk, I want freedom, I want goodness. I want sin.

On his eagerness for freedom and risk.

13. Words can be like X-rays if used properly: they pass through everything. You read them and they go right through you. This is one of the things I try to teach my students: to write penetratingly.

One of those Aldous Huxley's phrases that show us his pedagogical side.

14. The good of mankind must consist in each one enjoying as much happiness as he can, without diminishing the happiness of others.

Live and let live.

15. Neighbors whom one never sees up close are the ideal and perfect neighbors.

Ironic phrase about community life.

16. The silent man does not bear witness against himself.

One of the keys to discretion, according to Huxley.

17. Perhaps only geniuses are true men.

A somewhat reductionist view of manhood.

18. There are three kinds of intelligence: human intelligence, animal intelligence and military intelligence.

On the types of intelligence, in an ironic quote by Aldous Huxley.

19. Love drives out fear and, reciprocally, fear drives out love. And it is not only love that fear drives out; it drives out intelligence, goodness, every thought of beauty and truth, and only mute despair remains; and in the end, fear drives out man's very humanity.

A quote about love and the experience of falling in love.

20. In most cases ignorance is something surmountable. We do not know because we do not want to know.

Great reflection on our under-exploited capabilities.

21. The more sinister a politician's desires are, the more pompous, in general, the nobility of his language becomes.

Demagogy usually goes hand in hand with pomposity and presumptuousness.

22. The secret of genius is to preserve the spirit of a child until old age, which means never losing enthusiasm.

A maxim in which many great thinkers agree.

Perhaps the greatest lesson of history is that no one learned the lessons of history.

One of Huxley's phrases that have transcended the most.

24. It is never the same to know the truth for oneself as to have to hear it from someone else.

It is always more comforting to find things out for yourself.

25. Facts do not cease to exist even if they are ignored.

A sample of his philosophical materialism.

26. The totality is present even in the broken pieces.

In line with the previous one.

27. Experience is not what happens to you, but what you do with what happens to you.

We are able to move forward thanks to resilience and willpower.

28. Habit turns sumptuous pleasures into daily necessities.

Greatness is in authority, according to this phrase by Aldous Huxley.

29. Technological progress has only provided us with more efficient means to go backwards.

On the paradoxical regression that technological advances bring us.

30. Pain is a horror that fascinates.

Nothing more disturbing than to see hundreds of people enjoying the suffering of others.

31. To doubt is to have two thoughts.

Between two waters, between two roads.

32. Wherever there is excessive specialization, an excess of organized division of labor, man is easily degraded to the level of a mere bedridden function.

By not allowing ourselves to think globally, we become mere executors, alienated from the very activity that feeds us.

33. What we think determines what we are and what we do, and, reciprocally, what we do and what we are determines what we think.

Philosophical phrase of the great Aldous Huxley.

34. What the rite is for public worship, spiritual exercises are for private devotion.

A good anthropological reflection.

35. Stupidity is certainly a product of the will.

He who does not learn is because he does not want to learn.

36. The will can be strengthened by exercise and confirmed by perseverance.

It is not necessary to let it come of its own accord: the will must be pursued and trained.

37. The optimal population (...) is that which resembles icebergs: eight-ninths below the waterline, and one-ninth above it.

Sentence extracted from "Brave New World", his most famous book.

38. Liberalism, of course, died of anthrax.

Another excerpt from his most famous work, about the ideology of freedom to capital.

39. Costumes, as I have now discovered, are much more than resources for the introduction of non-representational forms in naturalistic paintings and sculptures.

A reflection on the world of aesthetics.

40. Public spectacles now play a role comparable to that played in the Middle Ages by religion.

One of those sentences of Huxley in which he makes a parallelism between two different historical moments.

41. What is needed is a new drug that will soothe and console our suffering species without doing more harm in the long run than it does in the short run.

A particularly dystopian reflection.

42. In a world where education is predominantly verbal, highly educated people find it almost impossible to devote serious attention to anything but words and notions.

A particular view on the object of interest of the broadly educated.