"He had won the victory over himself," says the concluding line of George Orwell's grim novel, 1984. "He… — Marilyn Ferguson

"He had won the victory over himself," says the concluding line of George Orwell's grim novel, 1984. "He loved Big Brother." Just as hostages sometimes become fond of their abductors, we become attached to the factors that imprison us: our habits, customs, the expectations of others, rules, schedules, the state. Why do we give away our power or never claim it at all? Perhaps so that we can avoid decisions and responsibility. We are seduced by pain-avoidance, conflict avoidance.

Source: Wikiquote · CC BY-SA 4.0