“By definition, a human being is endowed with free will. He can use this to choose between good and evil. If he can only perform good or only perform evil, then he is a clockwork orange - meaning that he has the appearance of an organism lovely with colour and juice but is in fact only a clockwork toy to be wound up by God or the Devil or (since this is increasingly replacing both) the Almighty State. It is as inhuman to be totally good as it is to be totally evil. The important thing is moral choice. Evil has to exist along with good in order that moral choice may operate. Life is sustained by the grinding opposition of moral entities. This is what the television news is all about. Unfortunately there is so much original sin in us all that we find evil rather attractive. To devastate is easier and more spectacular than to create.”
“By definition, a human being is endowed with free will. He can use this to choose between good and evil. If he can only perform good or only perform evil, then he is a clockwork orange - meaning that he has the appearance of an organism lovely with colour and juice but is in fact only a clockwork toy to be wound up by God or the Devil or (since this is increasingly replacing both) the Almighty State. It is as inhuman to be totally good as it is to be totally evil. The important thing is moral choice. Evil has to exist along with good in order that moral choice may operate. Life is sustained by the grinding opposition of moral entities. This is what the television news is all about. Unfortunately there is so much original sin in us all that we find evil rather attractive. To devastate is easier and more spectacular than to create.”
Anthony Burgess
“You can viddy that everything in this wicked world counts. You can pony that one thing always leads to another. Right right right.”
Anthony Burgess, A Clockwork Orange“And now, talking of praying, I realise sadly that there will be little point in praying for you. You are passing now to a region where you will be beyond the reach of the power of prayer.”
Anthony Burgess, A Clockwork Orange“The intention to act violently is accompanied by strong feelings of physical distress.”
Anthony Burgess, A Clockwork Orange“Well, everything's a lesson, isn't it? Learning all the time, as you could say.”
Anthony Burgess, A Clockwork Orange“What does God want? Does God want goodness or the choice of goodness? Is a man who chooses the bad perhaps in some way better than a man who has the good imposed upon him?”
Anthony Burgess, A Clockwork Orange“And yet, in a sense, in choosing to be deprived of the ability to make an ethical choice, you have in a sense really chosen the good.”
Anthony Burgess, A Clockwork Orange“When we're healthy we respond to the presence of the hateful with fear and nausea.”
Anthony Burgess, A Clockwork Orange“The thrill of theft, of violence, the urge to live easy - is it worth it when we have undeniable proof, yes, yes, incontrovertible evidence that hell exists?”
Anthony Burgess, A Clockwork Orange“You got shook and shook till there was nothing left. You lost your name and your body and your self and you just didn't care.”
Anthony Burgess, A Clockwork Orange“Women thrive on novelty and are easy meat for the commerce of fashion. Men prefer old pipes and torn jackets.”
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