Orwell, George — Nineteen eighty-four [305]

The past not only changed, but changed continuously. What most afflicted him with the sense of nightmare was that he had never clearly understood why the huge imposture was undertaken. The immediate advantages of falsifying the past were obvious, but the ultimate motive was mysterious. He took up his pen again and wrote: … I understand HOW: I do not understand WHY. — Orwell, George, Nineteen eighty-four, 305

Note

‘The past not only changed, but changed continuously’—history as a flowing, unstable substance rather than a fixed set of facts. And the whole chapter’s unease distilled into that seven-word diary entry: method known, motive unfathomable.