Bertrand Russell quotes - page 4

I like mathematics because it is not human and has nothing particular to do with this planet or with the whole accidental universe - because, like Spinoza's God, it won't love us in return. (Bertrand Russell)
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. View quote
Bertrand Russell
I believe in using words, not fists. I believe in my outrage knowing people are living in boxes on the street. I believe in honesty. I believe in a good time. I believe in good food. I believe in sex. View quote
Bertrand Russell
So far as I can remember, there is not one word in the Gospels in praise of intelligence. View quote
Bertrand Russell
The secret to happiness is to face the fact that the world is horrible. View quote
Bertrand Russell
The people who are regarded as moral luminaries are those who forego ordinary pleasures themselves and find compensation in interfering with the pleasures of others. View quote
Bertrand Russell
There are two motives for reading a book; one, that you enjoy it; the other, that you can boast about it. View quote
Bertrand Russell
Boredom is... a vital problem for the moralist, since half the sins of mankind are caused by the fear of it. View quote
Bertrand Russell
I've made an odd discovery. Every time I talk to a savant I feel quite sure that happiness is no longer a possibility. Yet when I talk with my gardener, I'm convinced of the opposite. View quote
Bertrand Russell
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. View quote
Bertrand Russell
Collective fear stimulates herd instinct, and tends to produce ferocity toward those who are not regarded as members of the herd. (Bertrand Russell)
Even when the experts all agree, they may well be mistaken. View quote
Bertrand Russell
An Honest politician will not be tolerated by a democracy unless he is very stupid ... because only a very stupid man can honestly share the prejudices of more than half the nation. View quote
Bertrand Russell
Why is propaganda so much more successful when it stirs up hatred than when it tries to stir up friendly feeling? View quote
Bertrand Russell
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. View quote
Bertrand Russell
Not to be absolutely certain is, I think, one of the essential things in rationality. View quote
Bertrand Russell
Three passions, simple but overwhelmingly strong, have governed my life: the longing for love, the search for knowledge, and unbearable pity for the suffering of mankind. View quote
Bertrand Russell
To conquer fear is the beginning of wisdom. View quote
Bertrand Russell
What is wanted is not the will to believe, but the will to find out, which is the exact opposite. View quote
Bertrand Russell
The only thing that will redeem mankind is cooperation. View quote
Bertrand Russell
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)
Few people can be happy unless they hate some other person, nation, or creed. View quote
Bertrand Russell
Marriage is for women the commonest mode of livelihood, and the total amount of undesired sex endured by women is probably greater in marriage than in prostitution. View quote
Bertrand Russell
It is possible that mankind is on the threshold of a golden age; but, if so, it will be necessary first to slay the dragon that guards the door, and this dragon is religion. View quote
Bertrand Russell
Much that passes as idealism is disguised hatred or disguised love of power. View quote
Bertrand Russell