Gerard95
December 25th 07, 07:51 PM
have imagined, probably,
a huge underworld of conspirators, meeting secretly in cellars, scribbling
messages on walls, recognizing one another by codewords or by special
movements of the hand. Nothing of the kind exists. The members of the
Brotherhood have no way of recognizing one another, and it is impossible
for any one member to be aware of the identity of more than a few others.
Goldstein himself, if he fell into the hands of the Thought Police, could
not give them a complete list of members, or any information that would
lead them to a complete list. No such list exists. The Brotherhood cannot
be wiped out because it is not an organization in the ordinary sense.
Nothing holds it together except an idea which is indestructible. You will
never have anything to sustain you, except the idea. You will get no
comradeship and no encouragement. When finally you are caught, you will get
no help. We never help our members. At most, when it is absolutely
necessary that someone should be silenced, we are occasionally able to
smuggle a razor blade into a prisoner's cell. You will have to get used to
living without results and without hope. You will work for a while, you
will be caught, you will confess, and then you will die. Those are the only
results that you will ever see. There is no possibility that any
perceptible change will happen within our own lifetime. We are
a huge underworld of conspirators, meeting secretly in cellars, scribbling
messages on walls, recognizing one another by codewords or by special
movements of the hand. Nothing of the kind exists. The members of the
Brotherhood have no way of recognizing one another, and it is impossible
for any one member to be aware of the identity of more than a few others.
Goldstein himself, if he fell into the hands of the Thought Police, could
not give them a complete list of members, or any information that would
lead them to a complete list. No such list exists. The Brotherhood cannot
be wiped out because it is not an organization in the ordinary sense.
Nothing holds it together except an idea which is indestructible. You will
never have anything to sustain you, except the idea. You will get no
comradeship and no encouragement. When finally you are caught, you will get
no help. We never help our members. At most, when it is absolutely
necessary that someone should be silenced, we are occasionally able to
smuggle a razor blade into a prisoner's cell. You will have to get used to
living without results and without hope. You will work for a while, you
will be caught, you will confess, and then you will die. Those are the only
results that you will ever see. There is no possibility that any
perceptible change will happen within our own lifetime. We are