Bertrand Russell Quotes - Page 17

• You could live without the opera singer, but not without the services of the baker. On this ground you might say that the baker performs a greater service; but no lover of music would agree.

  Bertrand Russell

  Music, Bakers, Opera

  Bertrand Russell (1993). “The Quotable Bertrand Russell”

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• I can only say that, while my own opinions as to ethics do not satisfy me, other people's satisfy me still less.

  Bertrand Russell

  People, Ethics, Opinion

  Bertrand Russell, John G. Slater, Peter Köllner (1997). “Last Philosophical Testament: 1943-68”, p.51, Psychology Press

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• I know a parson who frightened his congregation terribly by telling them the second coming was very imminent indeed, but they were much consoled when they found he was planting trees in his garden.

  Bertrand Russell

  Garden, Tree, Religion

  Bertrand Russell, John Greer Slater, Peter Köllner (1996). “A Fresh Look at Empiricism: 1927-42”, p.189, Psychology Press

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• Fanaticism is the danger of the world, and always has been, and has done untold harm. I might almost say that I was fanatical against fanaticism.

  Bertrand Russell

  Done, World, Might

  "The Future of Science". Book by Bertrand Russell, p. 79; also in BBC The Listener, Vol. 61 (1959), p. 505, 1959.

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• To fear love is to fear life, and those who fear life are already three parts dead.

  Bertrand Russell

  Love, Inspirational, Life

  Marriage and Morals (1929) ch. 19

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• But if thought is to become the possession of many, not the privilege of the few, we must have done with fear. It is fear that holds men back - fear lest their cherished beliefs should prove delusions, fear lest the institutions by which they live should prove harmful, fear lest they themselves should prove less worthy of respect than they have supposed themselves to be.

  Bertrand Russell

  Men, Thinking, Done

  Bertrand Russell (2015). “Why Men Fight: A Method of Abolishing the International Duel”, p.96, Lulu Press, Inc

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• Righteousness cannot be born until self-righteousness is dead.

  Bertrand Russell

  Self, Born, Righteousness

  Bertrand Russell (2007). “Justice in War-time”, p.192, Cosimo, Inc.

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• I do not myself feel that any person who is really profoundly humane can believe in everlasting punishment.

  Bertrand Russell

  Believe, Punishment, Everlasting

  Bertrand Russell (1992). “The Basic Writings of Bertrand Russell, 1903-1959”, p.593, Psychology Press

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• The essence of the liberal outlook lies not in what opinions are held, but in how they are held; instead of being held dogmatically, they are held tentatively, and with a consciousness that new evidence may at any moment lead to their abandonment.

  Bertrand Russell

  Lying, Essence, May

  Bertrand Russell, John G. Slater, Peter Köllner (1997). “Last Philosophical Testament: 1943-68”, p.400, Psychology Press

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• Stupidity and unconscious bias often work more damage than venality.

  Bertrand Russell

  Stupidity, Damage, Bias

  Bertrand Russell (2004). “Sceptical Essays”, p.121, Psychology Press

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• All knowledge, we feel, must be built up upon our instinctive beliefs; and if these are rejected, nothing is left.

  Bertrand Russell

  Belief, Rejected, Feels

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• Historically, it is quite doubtful whether Christ ever existed at all, and if He did we do not know anything about Him.

  Bertrand Russell

  Religion, Atheism, Christ

  Bertrand Russell (2009). “The Basic Writings of Bertrand Russell”, p.573, Routledge

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• Order, unity, and continuity are human inventions, just as truly as catalogues and encyclopedias.

  Bertrand Russell

  Order, Unity, Invention

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• I should like to believe my people's religion, which was just what I could wish, but alas, it is impossible. I have really no religion, for my God, being a spirit shown merely by reason to exist, his properties utterly unknown, is no help to my life. I have nor the parson's comfortable doctrine that every good action has its reward, and every sin is forgiven. My whole religion is this: do every duty, and expect no reward for it, either here or hereafter.

  Bertrand Russell

  Believe, People, Wish

  Bertrand Russell (1986). “Bertrand Russell on God and Religion”

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• I think modern educational theorists are inclined to attach too much importance to the negative virtue of not interfering with children, and too little to the positive merit of enjoying their company.

  Bertrand Russell

  Children, Educational, Thinking

  Bertrand Russell (1972). “In praise of idleness: and other essays”

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• All's well that ends well; which is the epitaph I should put on my tombstone if I were the last man left alive.

  Bertrand Russell

  Tombstone, Men, Alive

  Bertrand Russell (2014). “The Autobiography of Bertrand Russell”, p.190, Routledge

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• Love, children, and work, are the great sources of fertilizing contact between the individual and the rest of the world.

  Bertrand Russell

  Children, Parent, World

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• Patience and boredom are closely related. Boredom, a certain kind of boredom, is really impatience. You don't like the way things are, they aren't interesting enough for you, so you deccide- and boredom is a decision-that you are bored.

  Bertrand Russell

  Interesting, Boredom, Decision

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• There are two motives for reading a book; one, that you enjoy it; the other, that you can boast about it.

  Bertrand Russell

  Inspirational, Funny, Book

  Bertrand Russell (2015). “The Conquest of Happiness”, p.28, Lulu Press, Inc

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• The root of the matter is a very simple and old fashioned thing... love or compassion. If you feel this, you have a motive for existence, a guide for action, a reason for courage, an imperative necessity for intellectual honesty.

  Bertrand Russell

  Love, Honesty, Simple

  Bertrand Russell (2009). “The Basic Writings of Bertrand Russell”, p.626, Routledge

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• Christ . . . said that a man who had looked after a woman lustfully had sinned as much as the man who had seduced her. How absurd!

  Bertrand Russell

  Men, Christ, He Man

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• Belief in a Divine mission is one of the many forms of certainty that have afflicted the human race.

  Bertrand Russell

  Race, Belief, Divine

  Bertrand Russell (1996). “Unpopular Essays”, p.176, Psychology Press

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• The use of self control is like the use of brakes on train. It is useful when you find yourself in wrong direction but merely harmful when the direction is right

  Bertrand Russell

  Self, Use, Brake

  Bertrand Russell (1987). “Bertrand Russell on ethics, sex, and marriage”

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• It is clear that thought is not free if the profession of certain opinions makes it impossible to earn a living.

  Bertrand Russell

  Wisdom, Opinion, Impossible

  Bertrand Russell (2004). “Sceptical Essays”, p.126, Psychology Press

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• There may be no good reasons for very many opinions that are held with passion.

  Bertrand Russell

  Passion, May, Opinion

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