War Is Evil, But It Is Often

By Using Stale Metaphors, Similes And Idioms, You Save Much Mental Effort, At The Cost Of Leaving Your Meaning Vague, Not Only For Your Reader But For Yourself.

Records Told The Same Tale, Then The Lie Passed Into History And Became Truth.

To Know And Not To Know, To Be Conscious Of Complete Truthfulne­ss While Telling Carefully Constructe­d Lies, To Hold Simultaneo­usly Two Opinions Which Cancelled Out, Knowing Them To Be Contradict­ory And Believing In Both Of Them, To Use Logic Against Logic, To Repudiate Morality While Laying Claim To It, To Believe That Democracy Was Impossible And That The Party Was The Guardian Of Democracy.

The Inflated Style Is Itself A Kind Of Euphemism. A Mass Of Latin Words Falls Upon The Facts Like Soft Snow, Blurring The Outlines And Covering Up All The Details. The Great Enemy Of Clear Language Is Insincerity.

In Places This Book Is A Little Over-written, Because Mr Blunden Is No More Able To Resist A Quotation Than Some People Are To Refuse A Drink.