“...This was not illegal, (nothing was illegal since there were no longer laws), but if detected it was reasonably certain that it would be punished by death...”

“A totalitarian society which succeeded in perpetuating itself would probably set us a schizophrenic system of thought, in which the laws of common sense held good in everyday life and in certain exact sciences, but could be disregarded by the politician, the historian, and the sociologist. Already there are countless people who would think it scandalous to falsify a scientific text-book, but would see nothing wrong in falsifying an historical fact.”

“The one certain thing was that death never came at an expected moment.”

“For some reason, all the best matadors were Fascists.”

“It appeared that even in Barcelona there were hardly any bullfights nowadays; for some reason all the best matadors were Fascists.”

“accept it as a law of nature that the individual is always defeated...the only victory lay in the far future long after you were dead...”

“On a ruinous wall I came upon a poster dating from the previous year and announcing that ‘six handsome bulls’ would be killed in the arena on such and such a date. How forlorn its faded colours looked. Where were the handsome bulls and the handsome bull-fighters now? It appeared that even in Barcelona there were hardly any bullfights nowadays - for some reason all the best matadors were Fascists.”