Bertrand Russell Quotes - Page 2

• The fact that an opinion has been widely held is no evidence whatever that it is not utterly absurd; indeed in view of the silliness of the majority of mankind, a widely spread belief is more likely to be foolish than sensible.

  Bertrand Russell

  Learning, Knowledge, Parenting

  Marriage and Morals ch. 5 (1929)

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• War doesn't determine who's right, it determines who's left

  Bertrand Russell

  War, Determine, Left

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• Men fear thought as they fear nothing else on earth - more than ruin, more even than death. Thought is subversive and revolutionary, destructive and terrible, thought is merciless to privilege, established institutions, and comfortable habits; thought is anarchic and lawless, indifferent to authority, careless of the well-tried wisdom of the ages. Thought looks into the pit of hell and is not afraid ... Thought is great and swift and free, the light of the world, and the chief glory of man.

  Bertrand Russell

  Courage, Men, Light

  Bertrand Russell (2009). “Why Men Fight”, p.107, Routledge

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• If there were in the world today any large number of people who desired their own happiness more than they desired the unhappiness of others, we could have a paradise in a few years.

  Bertrand Russell

  Happiness, Happy, Hippie

  Attributed to Bertrand Russell, Think, Vol. 27 (p. 32), 1961.

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• The trouble with the world is that the stupid are cocksure and the intelligent are full of doubt.

  Bertrand Russell

  Inspirational, Success, Confidence

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• A stupid man's report of what a clever man says can never be accurate, because he unconsciously translates what he hears into something he can understand.

  Bertrand Russell

  Clever, Smart, Stupid

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• The greatest challenge to any thinker is stating the problem in a way that will allow a solution.

  Bertrand Russell

  Challenges, Way, Problem

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• Most human beings, though in varying degrees, desire to control, not only their own lives but also the lives of others

  Bertrand Russell

  Desire, Degrees, Lives Of Others

  Bertrand Russell, John Greer Slater, Peter Köllner (1996). “A Fresh Look at Empiricism: 1927-42”, p.445, Psychology Press

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• There is much pleasure to be gained from useless knowledge.

  Bertrand Russell

  Knowledge, Useless, Pleasure

  "In Praise of Idleness and Other Essays". Book by Bertrand Russell, Ch. 2: 'Useless' Knowledge, 1935.

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• The tragedy of the people of Palestine is that their country was “given” by a foreign power to another people for the creation of a new state. The result was that many hundreds of thousands of innocent people were made permanently homeless. With every new conflict their numbers increased. How much longer is the world willing to endure this spectacle of wanton cruelty?

  Bertrand Russell

  Country, Numbers, People

  Bertrand Russell, Ray Perkins (Jr.) (2002). “Yours Faithfully, Bertrand Russell: A Lifelong Fight for Peace, Justice, and Truth in Letters to the Editor”, p.411, Open Court Publishing

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• A great many worries can be diminished by realizing the unimportance of the matter which is causing anxiety.

  Bertrand Russell

  Worry, Anxiety, Matter

  Bertrand Russell (2015). “The Conquest of Happiness”, p.40, Lulu Press, Inc

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• Beware the man of the single book

  Bertrand Russell

  Book, Men, He Man

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• Science does not aim at establishing immutable truths and eternal dogmas; its aim is to approach the truth by successive approximations, without claiming that at any stage final and complete accuracy has been achieved.

  Bertrand Russell

  Doe, Finals, Dogma

  Bertrand Russell (1985). “The ABC of relativity”, Signet

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• Collective fear stimulates herd instinct, and tends to produce ferocity toward those who are not regarded as members of the herd.

  Bertrand Russell

  Xenophobia, Fear, Racism

  Bertrand Russell (2009). “The Basic Writings of Bertrand Russell”, p.70, Routledge

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• A smile happens in a flash, but its memory can last a lifetime.

  Bertrand Russell

  Smile, Memories, Lasts

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• We have in fact, two kinds of morality, side by side: one which we preach, but do not practice, and another which we practice, but seldom preach.

  Bertrand Russell

  Practice, Two, Ethics And Morals

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

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• Organized people are just too lazy to look for things

  Bertrand Russell

  People, Lazy, Looks

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• HELL: A place where the police are German, the motorists French and the cooks English.

  Bertrand Russell

  God, Travel, Police

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

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• God and Satan alike are essentially human figures, the one a projection of ourselves, the other of our enemies.

  Bertrand Russell

  Enemy, Satan, Figures

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

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• There is something feeble and a little contemptible about a man who cannot face the perils of life without the help of comfortable myths.

  Bertrand Russell

  Atheist, Men, Littles

  Bertrand Russell (2013). “Human Society in Ethics and Politics”, p.219, Routledge

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• I dislike Communism because it is undemocratic, and capitalism because it favors exploitation.

  Bertrand Russell

  Favors, Communism, Exploitation

  "Unarmed Victory". Book by Bertrand Russell, p. 14, 1963.

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• Belief systems provide a programme which relieves the necessity of thought.

  Bertrand Russell

  Belief, Belief Systems, Programmes

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  The best life is the one in which the creative impulses play the largest part and the possessive impulses the smallest.

  Bertrand Russell

  Play, Creative, Life Is

  Bertrand Russell, Richard A. Rempel (1995). “Pacifism and Revolution, 1916-18”, p.228, Psychology Press

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• Most of the greatest evils that man has inflicted upon man have come through people feeling quite certain about something which, in fact, was false.

  Bertrand Russell

  Humility, Men, People

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

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• Neither a man nor a crowd nor a nation can be trusted to act humanely or to think sanely under the influence of a great fear.

  Bertrand Russell

  Fear, Men, Thinking

  Bertrand Russell (2009). “Unpopular Essays”, p.106, Routledge

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