Bertrand Russell Quotes About Animals

• It has been said that man is a rational animal. All my life I have been searching for evidence which could support this.

  Bertrand Russell

  Philosophical, Men, Animal

  "Unpopular Essays". Book by Bertrand Russell, 1950.

• Man is a credulous animal, and must believe something; in the absence of good grounds for belief, he will be satisfied with bad ones.

  Bertrand Russell

  Fear, Believe, Animal

  Unpopular Essays (1950) "Outline of Intellectual Rubbish"

• Man is a rational animal – so at least I have been told. Throughout a long life, I have looked diligently for evidence in favour of this statement, but so far I have not had the good fortune to come across it, though I have searched in many countries spread over three continents.

  Bertrand Russell

  Animal, Men, Long

  "Unpopular Essays".

• Aristotle, in spite of his reputation, is full of absurdities. He says that children should be conceived in the Winter, when the wind is in the North, and that if people marry too young the children will be female. He tells us that the blood of females is blacker than that of males; that the pig is the only animal liable to measles; that an elephant suffering from insomnia should have its shoulders rubbed with salt, olive-oil, and warm water; that women have fewer teeth than men, and so on. Nevertheless, he is considered by the great majority of philosophers a paragon of wisdom.

  Bertrand Russell

  Wisdom, Children, Winter

  Bertrand Russell (1943). “An Outline of Intellectual Rubbish: A Hilarious Catalogue of Organized and Individual Stupidity”

• The theoretical understanding of the world, which is the aim of philosophy, is not a matter of great practical importance to animals, or to savages, or even to most civilised men.

  Bertrand Russell

  Philosophy, Men, Animal

  Bertrand Russell (2016). “Mysticism and Logic”, p.28, Bertrand Russell

• No matter how eloquently a dog may bark, he cannot tell you that his parents were poor, but honest.

  Bertrand Russell

  Dog, Animal, Parent

• There is a further advantage [to hydrogen bombs]: the supply of uranium in the planet is very limited, and it might be feared that it would be used up before the human race was exterminated, but now that the practically unlimited supply of hydrogen can be utilized, there is considerable reason to hope that homo sapiens may put an end to himself, to the great advantage of such less ferocious animals as may survive. But it is time to return to less cheerful topics.

  Bertrand Russell

  Animal, Race, Hydrogen Bomb

• The human animal, like others, is adapted to a certain amount of struggle for life [and] the mere absence of effort from his life removes an essential ingredient of happiness. [. . .] He forgets that to be without some of the things you want is an indispensable part of happiness.

  Bertrand Russell

  Struggle, Animal, Effort

  Bertrand Russell (2013). “The Conquest of Happiness”, p.14, W. W. Norton & Company

• Man is a rational animal—so at least I have been told. … Aristotle, so far as I know, was the first man to proclaim explicitly that man is a rational animal. His reason for this view was … that some people can do sums. … It is in virtue of the intellect that man is a rational animal. The intellect is shown in various ways, but most emphatically by mastery of arithmetic. The Greek system of numerals was very bad, so that the multiplication table was quite difficult, and complicated calculations could only be made by very clever people.

  Bertrand Russell

  Clever, Animal, Men

• Animal rights, taken to their logical conclusion, mean votes for oysters.

  Bertrand Russell

  Taken, Mean, Animal

• The raw fruits of the earth were made for human sustenance. Even the white tails of rabbits, according to some theologians, have a purpose, namely to make it easier for sportsmen to shoot them. There are, it is true, some inconveniences: lions and tigers are too fierce, the summer is too hot, and the winter too cold. But these things only began after Adam ate the apple; I before that, all animals were vegetarians, and the season was always spring. If only Adam had been content with peaches and nectarines, grapes and pears and pineapples, these blessings would still be ours.

  Bertrand Russell

  Summer, Spring, Winter

• To a mind of sufficient intellectual power, the whole of mathematics would appear trivial, as trivial as the statement that a four-footed animal is an animal.

  Bertrand Russell

  Animal, Intellectual, Mind

  Bertrand Russell (2009). “The Basic Writings of Bertrand Russell”, p.230, Routledge

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