Orwell actually wrote: “You are free to be a drunkard, an idler, a coward, a backbiter, a fornicator; but you are not free to think for yourself.”
It’s a line from his first novel, Burmese Days which was informed by his experiences as an officer of the Indian Imperial Police force in Burma during the dying days of the British Empire.
Reference
Orwell, G., 1934. Burmese Days. [online] Gutenberg.net.au. Available at: <http://gutenberg.net.au/ebooks02/0200051.txt> [Accessed 18 August 2020].
George Orwell:
Eric Arthur Blair, better known by the pseudonym, George Orwell was born on 25th June 1903 in Motihari, India.
He was a journalist, essayist, novelist, and biting social critic.
He is best remembered for his novels Nineteen Eighty-Four and Animal Farm.
Orwell died of tuberculosis in London, England on 21st January 1950. Read More [ … ]