He came closer to the bed.“For ever！”he repeated.“And now let us get back to the question of‘how’and‘why’. You understand well enough how the Party maintains itself in power. Now tell me why we cling to power. What is our motive？ Why should we want power？ Go on， speak，” he added as Winston remained silent.
Nevertheless Winston did not speak for another moment or two. A feeling of weariness had overwhelmed him. The faint， mad gleam of enthusiasm had come back into O’Brien’s face. He knew in advance what O"Brien would say. That the Party did not seek power for its own ends， but only for the good of the majority. That it sought power because men in the mass were frail cowardly creatures who could not endure liberty or face the truth， and must be ruled over and systematically deceived by others who were stronger than themselves. That the choice for mankind lay between freedom and happiness， and that， for the great bulk of mankind， happiness was better. That the party was the eternal guardian of the weak， a dedicated sect doing evil that good might come， sacrificing its own happiness to that of others. The terrible thing， thought Winston， the terrible thing was that when O"Brien said this he would believe it. You could see it in his face. O"Brien knew everything. A thousand times better than Winston he knew what the world was really like， in what degradation the mass of human beings lived and by what lies and barbarities the Party kept them there. He had understood it all， weighed it all， and it made no difference： all was justified by the ultimate purpose. What can you do， thought Winston， against the lunatic who is more intelligent than yourself， who gives your arguments a fair hearing and then simply persists in his lunacy？
“You are ruling over us for our own good，”he said feebly.“You believe that human beings are not fit to govern themselves， and therefore—”
He started and almost cried out. A pang of pain had shot through his body. O’Brien had pushed the lever of the dial up to thirty-five.
“That was stupid， Winston， stupid！” he said.“You should know better than to say a thing like that.”
He pulled the lever back and continued：
“Now I will tell you the answer to my question. It is this. The Party seeks power entirely for its own sake. We are not interested in the good of others ； we are interested solely in power. Not wealth or luxury or long life or happiness： only power， pure power. What pure power means you will understand presently. We are different from all the oligarchies of the past， in that we know what we are doing. All the others， even those who resembled ourselves， were- cowards and hypocrites. The German Nazis and the Russian Communists came very close to us in their methods， but they never had the courage to recognize their own motives. They pretended， perhaps they even believed， that they had seized power unwillingly and for a limited time， and that just round the corner there lay a paradise where human beings would be free and equal. We are not like that. We know that no one ever seizes power with the intention of relinquishing it. Power is not a means， it is an end. One does not establish a dictatorship in order to safeguard a revolution； one makes the revolution in order to establish the dictatorship. The object of persecution is persecution. The object of torture is torture. The object of power is power. Now do you begin to understand me？”
Winston was struck， as he had been struck before， by the tiredness of O’Brien’s face. It was strong and fleshy and brutal， it was full of intelligence and a sort of controlled passion before which he felt himself helpless； but it was tired. There were pouches under the eyes， the skin sagged from the cheekbones. O"Brien leaned over him， deliberately bringing the worn face nearer.
“You are thinking，”he said，“that my face is old and tired. You are thinking that I talk of power， and yet I am not even able to prevent the decay of my own body. Can you not understand， Winston， that the individual is only a cell？ The weariness of the cell is the vigour of the organism. Do you die when you cut your fingernails？”
He turned away from the bed and began strolling up and down again， one hand in his pocket.
“We are the priests of power，”he said.“God is power. But at present power is only a word so far as you are concerned. It is time for you to gather some idea of what power means. The first thing you must realize is that power is collective. The individual only has power in so far as he ceases to be an individual. You know the Party slogan： ‘Freedom is Slavery’. Has it ever occurred to you that it is reversible？ Slavery is freedom. Alone — free — the human being is always defeated. It must be so， because every human being is doomed to die， which is the greatest of all failures. But if he can make complete， utter submission， if he can escape from his identity， if he can merge himself in the Party so that he is the Party， then he is all-powerful and immortal. The second thing for you to realize is that power is power over human beings. Over the body but， above all， over the mind. Power over matter — external reality， as you would call it — is not important. Already our control over matter is absolute.”
For a moment Winston ignored the dial. He made a violent effort to raise himself into a sitting position， and merely succeeded in wrenching his body painfully.
“But how can you control matter？”he burst out.“You don’t even control the climate or the law of gravity. And there are disease， pain， death—”
O’Brien silenced him by a movement of his hand.“We control matter because we control the mind. Reality is inside the skull. You will learn by degrees， Winston. There is nothing that we could not do. Invisibility， levitation — anything. I could float off this floor like a soap bubble if I wish to. I do not wish to， because the Party does not wish it. You must get rid of those nineteenth-century ideas about the laws of Nature. We make the laws of Nature.”
“But you do not！ You are not even masters of this planet. What about Eurasia and Eastasia？ You have not conquered them yet.”
“Unimportant. We shall conquer them when it suits us. And if we did not， what difference would it make？ We can shut them out of existence. Oceania is the world.”