Quote of the day

"What Orwell feared were those who would ban books. What Huxley feared was that there would be no reason to ban a book, for there would be no one who wanted to read one. Orwell feared those who would deprive us of information. Huxley feared those who would give us so much that we would be reduced to passivity and egoism. Orwell feared that the truth would be concealed from us. Huxley feared that the truth would be drowned in a sea of irrelevance. Orwell feared we would become a captive culture. Huxley feared we would become a trivial culture."

Sales of George Orwell's 1984 might be up as a consequence of our current predicament, but Neil Postman's Amusing Ourselves To Death, quoted above, predicted that Aldous Huxley's Brave New World would actually prove to be the more prescient novel - a point made by his son Andrew in a recent Guardian article.

(Thanks to Phil for the link.)