45 Best Animal Farm Quotes By George Orwell

Check out the best Animal Farm quotes that capture George Orwell’s powerful allegory about the dangers of power, corruption, and propaganda.

Animal Farm is a timeless political satire that uses a group of farm animals to mirror the events leading up to the Russian Revolution of 1917 and the rise of Stalinism.

Written by George Orwell and first published in 1945, the novella masterfully critiques how revolutionary movements can be manipulated by those in power, turning noble ideals into tools of oppression.

The story follows the animals of Manor Farm overthrowing their human oppressor in hopes of creating a society based on equality and justice.

But as power shifts into the hooves of the pigs, the revolution’s promises are replaced by lies, betrayal, and tyranny.

With characters like Napoleon, Snowball, Boxer, and Squealer, Orwell illustrates how propaganda and authoritarianism can manipulate truth and erode freedom.

Since its release, Animal Farm has sold millions of copies worldwide. It received a Retrospective Hugo Award in 1996, was named one of Time Magazine’s 100 best English-language novels, and is part of the Great Books of the Western World.

Taught in schools and studied by political thinkers globally, Animal Farm remains one of the most powerful and relevant works of 20th-century literature.

Here are the most powerful and famous Animal Farm quotes that expose the dark side of revolution, leadership, and betrayal.

Top 10 Animal Farm Quotes 

1. “Four legs good, two legs bad.” ― George Orwell, Animal Farm

   

2. “The only good human being is a dead one.” ― George Orwell, Animal Farm

   
3. “All men are enemies. All animals are comrades.” ― George Orwell, Animal Farm

   

4. “Man serves the interests of no creature except himself.” ― George Orwell, Animal Farm

   

5. “Let’s face it: our lives are miserable, laborious, and short.” ― George Orwell, Animal Farm

   

6. “Man is the only creature that consumes without producing.” ― George Orwell, Animal Farm

   

7. “Bravery is not enough. Loyalty and obedience are more important.” ― George Orwell, Animal Farm

   

8. “All animals are equal, but some animals are more equal than others.” ― George Orwell, Animal Farm

   

9. “If liberty means anything, it’s the right to say what people don’t want to hear.” ― George Orwell, Animal Farm

   

10. “The Seven Commandments: 1. Whatever goes upon two legs is an enemy. 2. Whatever goes upon four legs, or has wings, is a friend. 3. No animal shall wear clothes. 4. No animal shall sleep in a bed. 5. No animal shall drink alcohol. 6. No animal shall kill any other animal. 7. All animals are equal.” ― George Orwell, Animal Farm

Best Animal Farm Quotes By George Orwell

1. “I will work harder.” ― George Orwell, Animal Farm

   

2. “Napoleon is always right.” ― George Orwell, Animal Farm

   

3. “Tactics, comrades, tactics!” ― George Orwell, Animal Farm

   

4. “Squealer could turn black into white.” ― George Orwell, Animal Farm

   

5. “No animal shall kill any other animal without cause.” ― George Orwell, Animal Farm
6. “Weak or strong, clever or simple, we are all brothers.” ― George Orwell, Animal Farm

   

7. “Several of them would have protested if they could have found the right arguments.” ― George Orwell, Animal Farm
8. “There, comrades, is the answer to all our problems. It is summed up in a single word– Man” ― George Orwell, Animal Farm
9. “The distinguishing mark of man is the hand, the instrument with which he does all his mischief.” ― George Orwell, Animal Farm
10. “Windmill or no windmill, he said, life would go on as it had always gone on–that is, badly.” ― George Orwell, Animal Farm
11. “His answer to every problem, every setback was “I will work harder!” —which he had adopted as his personal motto.” ― George Orwell, Animal Farm
12. “Twelve voices were shouting in anger, and they were all alike… but already it was impossible to say which was which.” ― George Orwell, Animal Farm
13. “He would say that God had given him a tail to keep the flies off, but that he would sooner have had no tail and no flies.” ― George Orwell, Animal Farm
14. “Man is the only real enemy we have. Remove man from the scene, and the root cause of hunger and overwork is abolished forever.” ― George Orwell, Animal Farm
15. “The creatures outside looked from pig to man, and from man to pig, and from pig to man again; but already it was impossible to say which was which.” ― George Orwell, Animal Farm

Equal Quotes From Animal Farm

1. “If Comrade Napoleon says it, it must be right.” ― George Orwell, Animal Farm
2. “I have no wish to take life, not even human life.” ― George Orwell, Animal Farm
3. “Do not imagine, comrades, that leadership is a pleasure!” ― George Orwell, Animal Farm
4. “Donkeys live a long time. None of you has ever seen a dead donkey.” ― George Orwell, Animal Farm
5. “Can you not understand that liberty is worth more than just ribbons?” ― George Orwell, Animal Farm
6. “It had become usual to give Napoleon the Credit for every successful achievement and every stroke of good fortune.” ― George Orwell, Animal Farm
7. “The human beings did not hate Animal Farm any less now that it was prospering; indeed, they hated it more than ever.” ― George Orwell, Animal Farm
8. “The result of preaching totalitarian doctrines is to weaken the instinct by means of which free peoples know what is or is not dangerous.” ― George Orwell, Animal Farm
9. “Four young porkers in the front row uttered shrill squeals of disapproval, and all four of them sprang to their feet and began speaking at once.” ― George Orwell, Animal Farm
10. “they had come to a time when no one dared speak his mind, when fierce, growling dogs roamed everywhere, and when you had to watch your comrades torn to pieces after confessing to shocking crimes.” ― George Orwell, Animal Farm

Famous Animal Farm Quotes

1. “Surely, comrades, you don’t want Jones back?” ― George Orwell, Animal Farm
2. “Never mind the milk, comrades!” cried Napoleon, placing himself in front of the buckets.” ― George Orwell, Animal Farm
3. “This work was strictly voluntary, but any animal who absented himself from it would have his rations reduced by half.” ― George Orwell, Animal Farm
4. “Somehow it seemed as though the farm had grown richer without making the animals themselves any richer – except, of course, for the pigs and the dogs.” ― George Orwell, Animal Farm
5. “The pigs did not actually work, but directed and supervised the others. With their superior knowledge it was natural that they should assume the leadership.” ― George Orwell, Animal Farm
6. “One does not say that a book ‘ought not to have been published’ merely because it is a bad book. After all, acres of rubbish are printed daily and no one bothers.” ― George Orwell, Animal Farm
7. “Comrades,” he said quietly, “do you know who is responsible for this? Do you know the enemy who has come in the night and overthrown our windmill? SNOWBALL!” ― George Orwell, Animal Farm
8. “Only old Benjamin professed to remember every detail of his long life and to know that things never had been, nor ever could be much better or much worse–hunger, hardship, and disappointment being, so he said, the unalterable law of life.” ― George Orwell, Animal Farm
9. “No one believes more firmly than Comrade Napoleon that all animals are equal. He would be only too happy to let you make your decisions for yourselves. But sometimes you might make the wrong decisions, comrades, and then where should we be?” ― George Orwell, Animal Farm
10. “Man is the only creature that consumes without producing. He does not give milk, he does not lay eggs, he is too weak to pull the plough, he cannot run fast enough to catch rabbits. Yet he is lord of all the animals. He sets them to work, he gives back to them the bare minimum that will prevent them from starving, and the rest he keeps for himself.” ― George Orwell, Animal Farm

Conclusion

What are your favorite Animal Farm quotes and lines listed above? If there is a quote that we’ve missed, then let us know in the comments section what your thoughts are.

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