We sleep safely in our beds because rough men stand ready...

Redleg

Redleg

The fire is everything
Staff member
Yes, I actually need some help here... :(

I'm trying to find the origin to George Orwells quote:
"We sleep safely in our beds because rough men stand ready in the night to visit violence on those who would do us harm."


I can't find any proof that he really said this.
It's used everywhere, but no one knows when, and why he said it!

Please help, so that I can sleep (safely) in my bed at night again... 8)
 
Well it's not looking good, Redleg.

Rough Men

Did George Orwell ever say: "People sleep peaceably in their beds at night only because rough men stand ready to do violence on their behalf?" Or: "We sleep safely at night because rough men stand ready to visit violence on those who would harm us?"

All the a.b.g-o regulars agreed it was something he might have said in one of his more truculent moods. But if he did say it, where? If so, why can't any of us find it? (It is not, apparently, mentioned in the recent Complete Works, edited by Peter Davison).

The nearest version is contained in Orwell’s essay on Rudyard Kipling (1942): "[Kipling] sees clearly that men can only be highly civilized while other men, inevitably less civilised, are there to guard and feed them." (Thanks to Keith Ammann for this).

Unless someone finds a source for the ‘rough men’ quote, it seems to be an Orwellian piece of disinformation (MB).
Click to expand...

http://www.netcharles.com/orwell/ctc/docs/faq-abgo4.htm


"People sleep peaceably in their beds at night only because rough men stand ready to do violence on their behalf."
Alternative: "We sleep safely at night because rough men stand ready to visit violence on those who would harm us."
Notes: allegedly from Rough Men by George Orwell. There is no evidence in existence that Orwell ever wrote or uttered either of these versions of this idea. While these do bear some similarity to a comment made in an essay that Orwell wrote on Rudyard Kipling, the two statements above are considered to be illegitimate by Orwell scholars.
Click to expand...

http://wikiquote.org/wiki/List_of_misquotations


Unfortunately, I can't seem to find any sign of an alternative source for the quote, it may just have to be one of those under "Anonymous."
Sorry for the bad news.
 
I suspect that this is one of those quotes that everyone has heard from someone else, who has heard it from someone else again, who has forgot who they heard it from....

It's used everywhere, so I don't think it's completely false.
But it could be a similar quote by Orwell that has in time been changed into this one...


(and by the way: cool google ads at the bottom of this topic...
It's supposed to be ads related to the content of each page, guess it was too much sleep talking for google .:D .)
 
Guardsman_Ca said:
I went through 19 pages of links re Goerge Orwell quotes and they all said it was his quote
Click to expand...

I know, but no one can tell why and when he said it.... :(
 
You know, it might be like that Edmund Burke quote ("The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing.") where if you search for it online, half the responses claim he said it and half claim some other guy said it. Good luck with that though Redleg, I'll let you know if I run across anything.
 
Eep the quote! I had to memorize this one and regurgitate it on command. *shudders* Oh the flashbacks! What we had to learn was
“People sleep peaceably in their bed at night only because rough men stand ready to do violence on their behalf.” –George Orwell
Click to expand...
Anyway, so that's the way my Training Officer thought it should be (and we all know TOs are the Voice of God so... :lol: )
 
Rough Men quote

"We sleep safely...."

I came across this piece last year and was very intrigued by it as it expressed my sentiments exactly. I did some research into it and discovered that it is widely attributed to George Orwell. Other sources believed that this is false. My final findings indicated that it was in fact a quote from a piece of Orwell's writings... but not as George Orwell (a pseudonym), but rather under his real name, Eric Arthur Blair.

Good luck to all.
W
 
A bit late with the repl.. :oops:

Interesting info, do you know where he did use that quotes?
 
We sleep safely at night because rough men stand ready to visit violence on those who would harm us.
based on:
[Kipling] sees clearly that men can only be highly civilized while other men, inevitably less civilised,
are there to guard and feed them.
--George Orwell

So it is George Orwell.


Actually look what I just found on Wikipedia:

"People sleep peaceably in their beds at night only because rough men stand ready to do violence on their behalf."

* Alternative: "We sleep safely at night because rough men stand ready to visit violence on those who would harm us."
* Notes: allegedly from Rough Men by George Orwell. There is no evidence in existence that Orwell ever wrote or uttered either of these versions of this idea. While these do bear some similarity to a comment made in an essay that Orwell wrote on Rudyard Kipling, the two statements above are considered to be illegitimate by Orwell scholars.
 
Orwell's Rough Men quote?

the_13th_redneck said:
allegedly from Rough Men by George Orwell. There is no evidence in existence that Orwell ever wrote or uttered either .
Click to expand...


I agree and made this same point in another message:

Did George Orwell really say it?

It seems like it's a bit of a mystery:
http://www.netcharles.com/orwell/ctc/docs/faq.htm#RoughMen

One thing is certain: Orwell knew how to use a gun. He hunted in his youth and left Britain to fight in the Spanish Civil War during the late 1930s.


---

That was written by me in mid-September. Let me just add that Orwell also voluntered to fight in WWII but was rejected due to poor health. I know that no written proof exists to show that Orwell made the "rough men" quote but it sounds exactly like something he would have said. Also remember that thousands of his BBC radio broadcasts did not survive so maybe he said it on the radio and that's how people remember it?


>Jenn<
 
Orwell quote

I did some research and found this quote attributed to a speech on a BBC broadcast, April 4, 1942. That's as far as I got. Perhaps there's a site that has audio from old WWII BBC broadcasts.

Hope that helps, and hope you get some sleep!
 
Hi Chaps, I think the 'rough men' quote was from Winston Churchill in praise and justification of the original Commando and SAS boys who were coming under criticism for their 'barbaric acts' in occupied France. It was undoubtedly inspired by Orwell but the actual quote was Churchill I believe.
 
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