25 Brave New World Quotes From the Controversial Dystopian Novel

These Brave New World quotes will change the way you see the world.

Brave New World is a dystopian novel by English author Aldous Huxley, a story that ultimately birthed the science-fiction genre.

The story has many controversial themes that challenged ideas at the time it was written.

And today, more than 75 years later, the book poses a lot of food for thought that may seem more relevant than it was in the 1930s. 

Brave New World talks about the impact scientific advancement can have on society, and what the outcomes can be.

Because of some of the attitudes the book has on religion and race, it has been banned in many institutions around the world.

Whether you’re familiar with the book or you’re now intrigued to read it and see what it’s about for yourself, these Brave New World Quotes will make you question why we’re here and how humans can be so easily manipulated. 

Don’t forget to also read these timeless Fahrenheit 451 quotes that will inspire you to think differently.

If you need more inspirational quotes, check out our motivational quotes category page.

Brave New World Quotes on Wisdom

1. “What would it be like if I were free—not enslaved by my conditioning.” ― Aldous Huxley, Brave New World 

2. “Those who meant well behaved in the same way as those who meant badly.” ― Aldous Huxley, Brave New World

3. “Great is truth, but still greater, from a practical point of view, is silence about truth.” ― Aldous Huxley, Brave New World

4. “Isn’t there something in living dangerously?” ― Aldous Huxley, Brave New World

5. “A love of nature keeps no factories busy.” ― Aldous Huxley, Brave New World

6. “Ending is better than mending.” ― Aldous Huxley, Brave New World

7. “When people are suspicious with you, you start being suspicious with them.” ― Aldous Huxley, Brave New World

8. “Most human beings have an almost infinite capacity for taking things for granted.” ― Aldous Huxley, Brave New World

9. “Never put off till tomorrow the fun you can have today.” ― Aldous Huxley, Brave New World

10. “Can you say something about nothing?” ― Aldous Huxley, Brave New World

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Brave New World Quotes on the Human Condition

11. “Words can be like X-rays if you use them properly — they’ll go through anything. You read and you’re pierced.”― Aldous Huxley, Brave New World

12. “I am I, and I wish I weren’t.” ― Aldous Huxley, Brave New World

13. “Our world is not the same as Othello’s world. You can’t make flivvers without steel—and you can’t make tragedies without social instability. The world’s stable now. People are happy; they get what they want, and they never want what they can’t get.” ― Aldous Huxley, Brave New World
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14. “There was a thing called Heaven; but all the same they used to drink enormous quantities of alcohol.” ― Aldous Huxley, Brave New World

15. “We are not our own any more than what we possess is our own. We did not make ourselves, we cannot be supreme over ourselves. We are not our own masters.” ― Aldous Huxley, Brave New World

16. “This concern with the basic condition of freedom — the absence of physical constraint — is unquestionably necessary, but is not all that is necessary. It is perfectly possible for a man to be out of prison and yet not free — to be under no physical constraint and yet to be a psychological captive, compelled to think, feel and act as the representatives of the national State, or of some private interest within the nation, want him to think, feel and act.” ― Aldous Huxley, Brave New World
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17. “One of the principal functions of a friend is to suffer (in a milder and symbolic form) the punishments that we should like, but are unable, to inflict upon our enemies.” ― Aldous Huxley, Brave New World

18. “A man can smile and smile and be a villain.” ― Aldous Huxley, Brave New World

19. “But every one belongs to every one else” ― Aldous Huxley, Brave New World

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Brave New World Quotes on Believing

20. “But I don’t want comfort. I want God, I want poetry, I want real danger, I want freedom, I want goodness. I want sin.” ― Aldous Huxley, Brave New World

21. “One believes things because one has been conditioned to believe them.” ― Aldous Huxley, Brave New World

22. “God isn’t compatible with machinery and scientific medicine and universal happiness. You must make a choice. Our civilization has chosen machinery and medicine and happiness.” ― Aldous Huxley, Brave New World

23. “They’re old; they’re about God hundreds of years ago. Not about God now. But God doesn’t change. Men do though” ― Aldous Huxley, Brave New World

24. “Chronic remorse, as all the moralists are agreed, is a most undesirable sentiment. If you have behaved badly, repent, make what amends you can and address yourself to the task of behaving better next time. On no account brood over your wrongdoing. Rolling in the muck is not the best way of getting clean.”  ― Aldous Huxley, Brave New World

Brave New World Quotes on Loneliness

25. “If one’s different, one’s bound to be lonely.” ― Aldous Huxley, Brave New World

Also read these memorable Dante’s Inferno quotes highlighting central themes.

What did you learn from these Brave New World quotes?

Brave New World is one of the most influential sci-fi novels of its time, and perhaps one of the most thought-provoking stories ever written.

While the book touches on many interesting themes, the overall concept of how powerful technology and science can be in our lives and in society, is something that we should all think about, especially in this day and age.

If you haven’t read Brave New World, it’s certainly worth a read, as it can open your mind up to thoughts and theories about humans that you may not have otherwise pondered.

But in the meantime, these Brave New World quotes will give you some conversation points to bring to your next dinner party.

What’s your biggest takeaway from these Brave New World quotes and lines?

Do you have any other favorite quotes to add?

Let us know in the comment section below.