Propaganda Machine/Quotes

As societies grow decadent, the language grows decadent, too. Words are used to disguise, not to illuminate, action: You liberate a city by destroying it. Words are used to confuse, so that at election time people will solemnly vote against their own interests

—Gore Vidal

On the morning of September 22, fishermen of the fishery station in Rajin-Sonbong city caught a 10cm long white sea cucumber while fishing on the waters off Chongjin. They said the rare white sea cucumber has come to hail the auspicious event of electing Secretary Kim Jong Il as Party General Secretary. Seeing the mysterious natural phenomena, Koreans say Secretary Kim Jong Il is indeed the greatest of great men produced by heaven and that flowers come into bloom to mark the great event.

—Korean Central News Agency (29 Sep 1997)

The natural character of the Prussian monarch is such that he has an extraordinary love of mankind. All his efforts are devoted to promoting its welfare and happiness. -- Supporter of Frederick the Great

From the conformation of his nose one may read self-interest, envy, displeasure, and bad temper. Death and destruction glisten in those wild flashing eyes. His laughter has the scornful ring of that of Hell, when it delights in the fall of a saint. -- Opponent of Frederick the Great

—Sampling the eighteenth century version of this trope in The Military Experience in the Age of Reason by Christopher Duffy