A
gramme is always better than a damn . . . A gramme in time saves
nine . . . One cubic centimetre cures ten gloomy sentiments . .
. Everybody’s happy nowadays . . . Every one works for every one
else . . . When the individual feels, the community reels . . .
Never put off till to-morrow the fun you can have to-day . . . Progress
is lovely
These are samples of hypnopaedic sayings
that are scattered throughout the novel. Lenina is a continual source
of them. In Chapter 6, she responds to Bernard’s
soliloquy about the need to be alone with almost nothing but hypnopaedic
phrases. Bernard tells her how many times, and for how long, each
phrase is pumped into the ears of sleeping children. The irony is
that Bernard himself is one of the people responsible for the hypnopaedic
phrases, but when he tries to escape their logic he is trapped by
the people around him who take every hypnopaedic saying as undeniable
truth. The quotes sampled here reflect some of the basic principles
of World State society: the use of soma to deal
with unpleasant emotions; the identification of happiness as the
ultimate goal; the maintenance of the caste system and the use of
conditioning to create workers who enjoy their work; the prioritizing
of the community over the individual; the support of instant gratification;
the promotion of technology and science as necessary foundations
of the good life.