The very concept of objective truth is fading out of the world.

The prophetic voice of George Orwell, who warned humankind of the perils of deceit and the corruption of truth, once declared: “The very concept of objective truth is fading out of the world. Lies will pass into history.” In these chilling words, Orwell did not merely describe his own time — he foretold the destiny of all ages that abandon truth. He saw that when lies are repeated often enough, they cease to sound like lies; they become accepted, enshrined, even recorded as the official memory of mankind. History, then, ceases to be a record of what happened — it becomes a weapon wielded by those who control the narrative. This, Orwell warned, is not simply the death of honesty, but the death of reality itself.

The origin of this quote lies in Orwell’s lifelong battle against falsehood and tyranny. Born Eric Arthur Blair, he took the pen name George Orwell and devoted his life to exposing the machinery of oppression that twists language and truth into tools of control. He witnessed, firsthand, how propaganda in the 20th century — in fascist Italy, Nazi Germany, and Soviet Russia — reshaped entire societies through lies disguised as truth. His masterpieces, 1984 and Animal Farm, are not mere stories but sacred parables of deception and awakening. It was through these works, and through his essays, that he articulated his fear: that truth, once considered sacred and absolute, was being deliberately eroded — replaced by the mutable lies of the powerful.

To say that “the very concept of objective truth is fading out of the world” is to declare that truth itself is under siege. For Orwell, objective truth meant that some things are real whether one believes them or not — that facts exist independently of power, opinion, or ideology. Yet he saw a world in which rulers could rewrite the past and citizens would accept it, where newspapers could erase yesterday’s truths with today’s lies. He understood that once truth becomes relative, reality itself becomes a puppet, pulled by those who command belief. “Lies will pass into history,” he wrote, not merely as warning, but as lament — for when lies become history, the memory of the world is lost, and humanity wanders blind through a landscape of illusion.

Consider the example of the totalitarian regimes of the twentieth century. In Stalin’s Soviet Union, history was rewritten to erase inconvenient names and events. Former allies of the revolution were declared traitors and vanished not only from life but from photographs, textbooks, and archives. New generations grew up believing the lies as truth, for no other truth remained. So complete was the deception that even the victims of oppression sometimes doubted their own memories. This is precisely what Orwell feared — a world where the lie is so vast that even the soul cannot remember what it once knew.

But Orwell’s words stretch beyond dictatorships; they reach into every society where truth becomes politicized. When nations are divided not by facts but by versions of facts, when public discourse is ruled by outrage instead of understanding, when truth is measured by convenience rather than conscience — then Orwell’s prophecy is fulfilled anew. In such a world, history itself becomes the battlefield, and whoever wins that battle owns not only the present, but the past and the future. For, as Orwell wrote in 1984: “He who controls the past controls the future. He who controls the present controls the past.”

Yet, there is hope — for Orwell’s warning was also a call to arms. If lies can pass into history, then truth can too — if there are those brave enough to guard it. The defense of truth is not the task of the powerful alone, but of every individual who refuses to be deceived. To seek truth is an act of rebellion; to speak truth is an act of courage; to preserve truth is an act of love. The written word, the honest record, the witness who remembers — these are the torches that light the path through the darkness of deceit.

Let this, then, be the lesson passed to all generations: truth must be tended like a sacred flame. Do not let it flicker beneath the winds of propaganda or perish beneath the weight of apathy. Question boldly. Read widely. Remember deeply. For every time a falsehood is repeated without challenge, history grows dimmer; and every time truth is spoken with clarity and courage, the world grows brighter.

So, my children of the future, heed the wisdom of George Orwell: guard the concept of objective truth as you would guard your own breath, for without it, freedom dies. Lies may indeed pass into history, but only if we allow them to. Stand, therefore, as keepers of memory — steadfast, discerning, and unafraid. For truth, though fragile, is eternal, and it is through your vigilance that it shall never fade from the world.