Bertrand Russell quotes - page 7

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)
I dislike Communism because it is undemocratic, and capitalism because it favors exploitation. View quote
Bertrand Russell
People seem good while they are oppressed, but they only wish to become oppressors in their turn: life is nothing but a competition to be the criminal rather than the victim. View quote
Bertrand Russell
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. View quote
Bertrand Russell
We may define "faith" as the firm belief in something for which there is no evidence. Where there is evidence, no one speaks of "faith." We do not speak of faith that two and two are four or that the earth is round. We only speak of faith when we wish to substitute emotion for evidence. The substitution of emotion for evidence is apt to lead to strife, since different groups, substitute different emotions. View quote
Bertrand Russell
I do not believe that science per se is an adequate source of happiness, nor do I think that my own scientific outlook has contributed very greatly to my own happiness, which I attribute to defecating twice a day with unfailing regularity. View quote
Bertrand Russell
Philosophy is to be studied, not for the sake of any definite answers to its questions, since no definite answers can, as a rule, be known to be true, but rather for the sake of the questions themselves; because these questions enlarge our conception of what is possible, enrich our intellectual imagination and diminish the dogmatic assurance which closes the mind against speculation; but above all because, through the greatness of the universe which philosophy contemplates, the mind is also rendered great, and becomes capable of that union with the universe which constitutes its highest good. View quote
Bertrand Russell
Truth is a shining goddess, always veiled, always distant, never wholly approachable, but worthy of all the devotion of which the human spirit is capable. View quote
Bertrand Russell
All human activity is prompted by desire. View quote
Bertrand Russell
The fact that a belief has a good moral effect upon a man is no evidence whatsoever in favor of its truth. View quote
Bertrand Russell
Change is one thing, progress is another. (Bertrand Russell)
The point of philosophy is to start with something so simple as not to seem worth stating, and to end with something so paradoxical that no one will believe it. View quote
Bertrand Russell
Perhaps the best hope for the future of mankind is that ways will be found of increasing the scope and intensity of sympathy. View quote
Bertrand Russell
There is darkness without and when I die there will be darkness within. There is no splendor, nor vastness anywhere; only triviality for a moment and then nothing. View quote
Bertrand Russell
We all have a tendency to think that the world must conform to our prejudices. The opposite view involves some effort of thought, and most people would die sooner than think in fact they do so. View quote
Bertrand Russell
I have lived in the pursuit of a vision, both personal and social. Personal: to care for what is noble, for what is beautiful, for what is gentle; to allow moments of insight to give wisdom at more mundane times. Social: to see in imagination the society that is to be created, where individuals grow freely, and where hate and greed and envy die because there is nothing to nourish them. These things I believe, and the world, for all its horrors, has left me unshaken. View quote
Bertrand Russell
The universe may have a purpose, but nothing we know suggests that, if so, this purpose has any similarity to ours. View quote
Bertrand Russell
Choose your parents wisely. View quote
Bertrand Russell
We love our habits more than our income, often more than our life. View quote
Bertrand Russell
No rules, however wise, are a substitute for affection and tact. View quote
Bertrand Russell
The happiness that is genuinely satisfying is accompanied by the fullest exercise of our faculties and the fullest realization of the world in which we live. (Bertrand Russell)
Those who have never known the deep intimacy and the intense companionship of happy mutual love have missed the best thing that life has to give. View quote
Bertrand Russell
Nothing is so exhausting as indecision, and nothing is so futile. View quote
Bertrand Russell
William James used to preach the "will-to-believe." For my part, I should wish to preach the "will-to-doubt." None of our beliefs are quite true; all at least have a penumbra of vagueness and error. What is wanted is not the will to believe, but the will to find out, which is the exact opposite. View quote
Bertrand Russell
A world full of happiness is not beyond human power to create; the obstacles imposed by inanimate nature are not insuperable. The real obstacles lie in the heart of man, and the cure for these is a firm hope, informed and fortified by thought. View quote
Bertrand Russell