Bertrand Russell Quotes - Page 5

• If a man is offered a fact which goes against his instincts, he will scrutinize it closely, and unless the evidence is overwhelming, he will refuse to believe it. If, on the other hand, he is offered something which affords a reason for acting in accordance to his instincts, he will accept it even on the slightest evidence. The origin of myths is explained in this way.

  Bertrand Russell

  Truth, Believe, Men

  Bertrand Russell (2015). “Proposed Roads to Freedom”, p.109, Booklassic

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• Your writing is never as good as you hoped; but never as bad as you feared.

  Bertrand Russell

  Writing

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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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• The problem with the wise is they are so filled with doubts while the dull are so certain.

  Bertrand Russell

  Faith, Wise, Doubt

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• Grasshopper always wrong in argument with chicken.

  Bertrand Russell

  Wisdom, Argument, Grasshoppers

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• Either man will abolish war, or war will abolish man.

  Bertrand Russell

  Peace, War, Men

  Bertrand Russell (2009). “Fact and Fiction”, p.276, Routledge

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• One of the symptoms of an approaching nervous breakdown is the belief that one's work is terribly important.

  Bertrand Russell

  Success, Work, Stress

  Conquest of Happiness (1930) ch. 5

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• Love should be a tree whose roots are deep in the earth, but whose branches extend into heaven.

  Bertrand Russell

  Love, Roots, Tree

  Bertrand Russell (2009). “Marriage and Morals”, p.175, Routledge

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• It seems to me a fundamental dishonesty, and a fundamental treachery to intellectual integrity to hold a belief because you think it's useful and not because you think it's true.

  Bertrand Russell

  Integrity, Thinking, Intellectual

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• It is likely that America will be more important during the next century or two, but after that it may well be the turn of China.

  Bertrand Russell

  Two, America, Important

  Bertrand Russell (2014). “The Autobiography of Bertrand Russell”, p.416, Routledge

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• If the ordinary wage-earner worked four hours a day, there would be enough for everybody, and no unemployment — assuming a certain very moderate amount of sensible organization. This idea shocks the well-to-do, because they are convinced that the poor would not know how to use so much leisure.

  Bertrand Russell

  Philosophy, Son, Men

  "In praise of idleness: and other essays".

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• I do not believe that I am now dreaming, but I cannot prove that I am not.

  Bertrand Russell

  Dream, Believe, Prove

  Bertrand Russell (2013). “Human Knowledge: Its Scope and Value”, p.186, Routledge

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• The chicken noticed that the farmer came every day to feed it. It predicted that the farmer would continue to bring food every day. Inductivists think that the chicken had "extrapolated" its observations into a theory, and that each feeding time added justification to that theory. Then one day the farmer came and wrung the chicken's neck. This inductively justifies the conclusion that induction cannot justify any conclusion.

  Bertrand Russell

  Thinking, One Day, Necks

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• We are told that Sin consists in acting contrary to God's commands, but we are also told that God is omnipotent. If He is, nothing contrary to His will can occur; therefore when the sinner disobeys His commands, He must have intended this to happen.

  Bertrand Russell

  Funny, God, Humorous

  Bertrand Russell (2009). “The Basic Writings of Bertrand Russell”, p.51, Routledge

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• All human activity is prompted by desire.

  Bertrand Russell

  Desire, Humans, Human Activity

  Bertrand Russell (2013). “Human Society in Ethics and Politics”, p.160, Routledge

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• It is preoccupation with possessions, more than anything else, that prevents us from living freely and nobly.

  Bertrand Russell

  Life, Money, Freedom

  "Principles of Social Reconstruction". Book by Bertrand Russell, 1917.

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• The good life is one inspired by love and guided by knowledge.

  Bertrand Russell

  Love, Life, Relationship

  Bertrand Russell (1957). “Why I Am Not a Christian: And Other Essays on Religion and Related Subjects”, p.56, Simon and Schuster

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• The opinions that are held with passion are always those for which no good ground exists; indeed the passion is the measure of the holders lack of rational conviction. Opinions in politics and religion are almost always held passionately.

  Bertrand Russell

  Passion, Opinion, Critical Thinking

  Sceptical Essays "Introduction: On the Value of Skepticism" (1961)

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• The experience of overcoming fear is extraordinarily delightful.

  Bertrand Russell

  Fear, Overcoming, Overcoming Fear

  Bertrand Russell (2009). “On Education”, p.65, Routledge

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• If I were a medical man, I should prescribe a holiday to any patient who considered his work important.

  Bertrand Russell

  Christmas, Work, Holiday

  Conquest of Happiness (1930) ch. 5

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• All forms of fear produce fatigue.

  Bertrand Russell

  Fear, Form, Produce

  Bertrand Russell (2015). “The Conquest of Happiness”, p.43, Lulu Press, Inc

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• If you wish to be happy yourself, you must resign yourself to seeing others also happy.

  Bertrand Russell

  Wish, Seeing, Ifs

  Bertrand Russell (2009). “Bertrand Russell's Best”, p.97, Routledge

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• Patriotism is the willingness to kill and be killed for trivial reasons.

  Bertrand Russell

  4th Of July, Patriotic, Government

  "Sceptical Essays". Ch. 13: Freedom in Society. Book by Bertrand Russell, 1928.

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• It's not what you have lost, but what you have left that counts.

  Bertrand Russell

  Losing, Lost, Left

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• One of the most powerful of all our passions is the desire to be admired and respected.

  Bertrand Russell

  Powerful, Passion, Desire

  Bertrand Russell (2004). “Sceptical Essays”, p.66, Psychology Press

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