Orwell's quote is from his science fiction novel 1984, which was written in 1949 and is available to be read for free on the Internet in several places, including George-Orwell.org. In this political novel, "Who controls the past controls the future" etc. was one of the ruling government's slogans. To me, this quote has a quite sinister ring to it, suggesting that whoever writes the history books affects the way we view the world and the way we will function in the future; and those who release public information about the workings of government controls what goes into the history books. But, I recommend you read the book to find out what it means for you.
I think that's really what I've always seen as the purpose of this or any of the quotes I've run into over the years: to pique our curiosity, force us to ask questions, and tempt us to read more of the larger work to get the answers for ourselves.
- More Archaeology Quotations
- 1984, the complete online text from George Orwell.org
- Inside George Orwell, from Michael O'Connor and About's guide to Contemporary Lit, Mark Flanagan
- George Orwell was Watched by Big Brother, from About's guide to 20th Century History, Jen Rosenberg
