Quote by George Orwell: “To see what is in front of one's nose needs a constant struggle.”

The obvious is often the hardest thing to actually see — not because it is hidden, but because habit, comfort, and self-interest make us overlook it. Clear thinking is not passive; it requires active, ongoing effort to resist what we want to be true.

Orwell wrote this in his 1946 essay 'In Front of Your Nose,' reflecting on the human tendency toward comfortable self-deception. Postwar Britain was reconstructing its sense of identity after the Second World War, and Orwell was consistently pushing back against collective delusions across the political spectrum.

English novelist and essayist best known for his political works Nineteen Eighty-Four and Animal Farm, which examined totalitarianism, propaganda, and the corruption of language. His 1946 essay 'Politics and the English Language' remains a foundational text in political writing and journalism.