Bertrand Russell Quotes - Page 11

• Unless you assume a God, the question of life's purpose is meaningless.

  Bertrand Russell

  Religion, Atheism, Purpose

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• Fundamental happiness depends more than anything else upon what may be called a friendly interest in persons and things.

  Bertrand Russell

  Happiness, Friendly, Fundamentals

  Bertrand Russell (2012). “The Conquest of Happiness”, p.107, Routledge

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• The knowledge exists by which universal happiness can be secured; the chief obstacle to its utilization for that purpose is the teaching of religion. Religion prevents our children from having a rational education; religion prevents us from removing the fundamental causes of war; religion prevents us from teaching the ethic of scientific cooperation in place of the old fierce doctrines of sin and punishment. 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.

  Bertrand Russell

  Children, War, Teaching

  "Why I Am Not a Christian".

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• 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.

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• There is no reason to suppose that the world had a beginning at all. The idea that things must have a beginning is really due to the poverty of our thoughts.

  Bertrand Russell

  Ideas, World, Poverty

  Bertrand Russell (1971). “Ladislas Reymont: Romain Rolland ; Bertrand Russell”

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• More and more people are becoming unable to accept traditional [religious] beliefs. If they think that, apart from these beliefs, there is no reason for kindly behaviour, the results may be needlessly unfortunate. That is why it is important to show that no supernatural reasons are needed to make [people] kind and to prove that only through kindness can the human race achieve happiness.

  Bertrand Russell

  Religious, Kindness, Philosophical

  Bertrand Russell, John G. Slater, Peter Köllner (1997). “Last Philosophical Testament: 1943-68”, p.88, Psychology Press

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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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• What men really want is not knowledge but certainty.

  Bertrand Russell

  Knowledge, Men, Want

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• Happiness is not best achieved by those who seek it directly.

  Bertrand Russell

  Inspirational, Happiness, Happy

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

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• 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.

  Bertrand Russell

  Darkness Within, Vastness, Splendor

  Bertrand Russell (1998). “Autobiography”, p.393, Psychology Press

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• The life of man is a long march through the night, surrounded by invisible foes, tortured by weariness and pain, towards a goal that few can hope to reach, and where none may tarry long.

  Bertrand Russell

  Life, Pain, Night

  Bertrand Russell (1957). “Why I Am Not a Christian: And Other Essays on Religion and Related Subjects”, p.115, Simon and Schuster

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• 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".

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• Since Adam and Eve ate the apple, man has never refrained from any folly of which he was capable.

  Bertrand Russell

  Men, Apples, Adam

  "History of the World in Epitome (For Use in Martian Infant Schools)". Book by Bertrand Russell, as quoted in Slater Bertrand Russell (1994), p. 136, 1959.

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• My first advice (on how not to grow old) would be to choose you ancestors carefully.

  Bertrand Russell

  Advice, Age, Would Be

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• What else is there to make life tolerable? We stand on the shore of an ocean, crying to the night and to emptiness. Sometimes a voice of one drowning, and in a moment the silence returns. The world seems to me quite dreadful, the unhappiness of many people is very great, and I often wonder how they all endure it. It is usually the central thing around which their lives are built, and I suppose if they did not live most of their lives in the things of the moment, they would not be able to go on.

  Bertrand Russell

  Life, Ocean, Night

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• Philosophy, from the earliest times, has made greater claims, and achieved fewer results, than any other branch of learning.

  Bertrand Russell

  Philosophy, Branches, Claims

  Bertrand Russell (2009). “Our Knowledge of the External World”, p.1, Routledge

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• Clergymen almost necessarily fail in two ways as teachers of morals. They condemn acts which do no harm and they condone acts which do great harm.

  Bertrand Russell

  Teacher, Two, Way

  Bertrand Russell (2009). “The Basic Writings of Bertrand Russell”, p.356, Routledge

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• Only in thought is man a God; in action and desire we are the slaves of circumstance.

  Bertrand Russell

  Men, Desire, Action

  Bertrand Russell (2014). “The Autobiography of Bertrand Russell”, p.172, Routledge

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• You must believe that you can help bring about a better world. A good society is produced only by good individuals, just as truly as a majority in a presidential election is produced by the votes of single electors.

  Bertrand Russell

  Believe, Presidential, Society

  Bertrand Russell, John Greer Slater, Peter Köllner (1996). “A Fresh Look at Empiricism: 1927-42”, p.642, Psychology Press

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• I feel as if one would only discover on one's death-bed what one ought to have lived for, and realise too late that one's life has been wasted. Any passionate and courageous life seems good in itself, yet one feels that some element of delusion is involved in giving so much passion to any humanly attainable object. And so irony creeps into the very springs of one's being.

  Bertrand Russell

  Spring, Passion, Giving

  Bertrand Russell (2014). “The Autobiography of Bertrand Russell”, p.232, Routledge

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• When the state intervenes to insure the indoctrination of some doctrine, it does so because there is no conclusive evidence in favor of that doctrine.

  Bertrand Russell

  Government, Doe, Doctrine

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• Prophets, mystics, poets, scientific discoverers are men whose lives are dominated by a vision; they are essentially solitary men . . . whose thoughts and emotions are not subject to the dominion of the herd.

  Bertrand Russell

  Men, Vision, Dominion

  Bertrand Russell (2009). “The Basic Writings of Bertrand Russell”, p.337, Routledge

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• I was told that The Chinese said they would bury me by the Western Lake and build a shrine to my memory. I have some slight regret that this did not happen, as I might have become a god, which would have been very chic for an atheist.

  Bertrand Russell

  Atheist, Memories, Regret

  Bertrand Russell (2009). “Autobiography”, p.346, Routledge

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• Even if we could be certain that one of the world's religions were perfectly true, given the sheer number of conflicting faiths on offer, every believer should expect damnation purely as a matter of probability.

  Bertrand Russell

  Numbers, Religion, World

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• The immense majority of intellectually eminent men disbelieve in the Christian religion, but they conceal the fact in public, because they are afraid of losing their incomes.

  Bertrand Russell

  Christian, Men, Religion

  Bertrand Russell (2004). “Sceptical Essays”, p.169, Psychology Press

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