Bertrand Russell Quotes About Evil

• 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

• Of all evils of war the greatest is the purely spiritual evil: the hatred, the injustice, the repudiation of truth, the artificial conflict.

  Bertrand Russell

  Spiritual, War, Evil

  Charles Chatfield, Bertrand Russell, Ralph Barton Perry (1972). “ETHICS OF WAR”, Dissertations-G

• Love and knowledge, so far as they were possible, led upward toward the heavens. But always pity brought me back to earth. Echoes of cries of pain reverberate in my heart. Children in famine, victims tortured by oppressors, helpless old people a burden to their sons, and the whole world of loneliness, poverty, and pain make a mockery of what human life should be. I long to alleviate this evil, but I cannot, and I too suffer.

  Bertrand Russell

  Inspirational, Children, Pain

  Bertrand Russell (2009). “Autobiography”, p.3, Routledge

• One of the chief obstacles to intelligence is credulity, and credulity could be enormously diminished by instructions as to the prevalent forms of mendacity. Credulity is a greater evil in the present day than it ever was before, because, owing to the growth of education, it is much easier than it used to be to spread misinformation, and, owing to democracy, the spread of misinformation is more important than in former times to the holders of power.

  Bertrand Russell

  Truth, Evil, Growth

  Bertrand Russell, Richard A. Rempel, Beryl Haslam (2000). “Uncertain Paths to Freedom: Russia and China, 1919-22”, p.360, Psychology Press

• It is in our hearts that evil lies, and it is from our hearts that it must be plucked out.

  Bertrand Russell

  Lying, Heart, Evil

  Bertrand Russell (1962). “Has Man a Future?”

• Children, after being limbs of Satan in traditional theology and mystically illuminated angels in the minds of educational reformers, have reverted to being little devils; not theological demons inspired by the evil one, but scientific Freudian abominations inspired by the unconscious.

  Bertrand Russell

  Children, Educational, Angel

  Bertrand Russell (2009). “Unpopular Essays”, p.60, Routledge

• Much of the most important evils that mankind have to consider are those which they inflict upon each other through stupidity or malevolence or both.

  Bertrand Russell

  Evil, Stupidity, Important

  Bertrand Russell (2009). “Unpopular Essays”, p.143, Routledge

• Ideas and principles that do harm are as a rule, though not always, cloaks for evil passions.

  Bertrand Russell

  Passion, Ideas, Evil

  Bertrand Russell (2009). “Unpopular Essays”, p.143, Routledge

• Ever since men became capable of free speculation, their actions, in innumerable important respects, have depended upon their theories as to the world and human life, as to what is good and what is evil. This is true in the present day as at any former time. To understand an age or a nation, we must understand its philosophy, and to understand its philosophy we must ourselves be in some degree philosophers. There is here a reciprocal causation: the circumstances of men s lives do much to determine their philosophy, but, conversely, their philosophy does much to determine their circumstances.

  Bertrand Russell

  Philosophy, Men, Evil

  "History of Western Philosophy".

• The twin conceptions of sin and vindictive punishment seem to be at the root of much that is most vigorous, both in religion and politics.

  Bertrand Russell

  Punishment, Roots, Evil

  Bertrand Russell (2009). “Unpopular Essays”, p.147, Routledge

• In regard to the past, where contemplation is not obscured by desire and the need for action, we see, more clearly than in the lives about us, the value for good and evil, of the aims men have pursued and the means they have adopted. It is good, from time to time, to view the present as already past, and to examine what elements it contains that will add to the world's store of permanent possessions, that will live and give life when we and all our generation have perished.

  Bertrand Russell

  Mean, Men, Past

  Bertrand Russell (1985). “Contemplation and Action, 1902-14”, p.80, Psychology Press

• It is odd that neither the Church nor modern public opinion condemns petting, provided it stops short at a certain point. At what point sin begins is a matter as to which casuists differ. One eminently orthodox Catholic divine laid it down that a confessor may fondle a nun's breasts, provided he does it without evil intent. But I doubt whether modern authorities would agree with him on this point.

  Bertrand Russell

  Evil, Catholic, Doubt

  Bertrand Russell (2009). “Unpopular Essays”, p.77, Routledge

• Those who forget good and evil and seek only to know the facts are more likely to achieve good than those who view the world through the distorting medium of their own desires.

  Bertrand Russell

  Views, Evil, Achievement

  Bertrand Russell (1985). “Contemplation and Action, 1902-14”, p.176, Psychology Press

• One eminently orthodox Catholic divine laid it down that a confessor may fondle a nun's breasts, provided he does it without evil intent.

  Bertrand Russell

  Evil, Catholic, May

  Bertrand Russell (2009). “Unpopular Essays”, p.80, Routledge

• As soon as it is held that any belief, no matter what, is important for some other reason than that it is true, a whole host of evils is ready to spring up.

  Bertrand Russell

  Spring, Evil, Important

  Bertrand Russell (1957). “Why I Am Not a Christian: And Other Essays on Religion and Related Subjects”, p.197, Simon and Schuster

• The difficulty is old, but none the less real. An omnipotent being who created a world containing evil not due to sin must Himself be at least partially evil.

  Bertrand Russell

  God, Real, Evil

  Bertrand Russell (2009). “Bertrand Russell's Best”, p.33, Routledge

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