Bertrand Russell Quotes - Page 2

• Collective fear stimulates herd instinct, and tends to produce ferocity toward those who are not regarded as members of the herd.

  Bertrand Russell

  Xenophobia, Fear, Racism

  Bertrand Russell (2009). “The Basic Writings of Bertrand Russell”, p.70, Routledge

  116 Copy quote

• Every great idea starts out as a blasphemy.

  Bertrand Russell

  Ideas, Blasphemy, Great Idea

  56 Copy quote

• One of the most powerful of all our passions is the desire to be admired and respected.

  Bertrand Russell

  Powerful, Passion, Desire

  Bertrand Russell (2004). “Sceptical Essays”, p.66, Psychology Press

  28 Copy quote

• The fact that an opinion has been widely held is no evidence whatever that it is not utterly absurd; indeed in view of the silliness of the majority of mankind, a widely spread belief is more likely to be foolish than sensible.

  Bertrand Russell

  Learning, Knowledge, Parenting

  Marriage and Morals ch. 5 (1929)

  52 Copy quote
• 

  The best life is the one in which the creative impulses play the largest part and the possessive impulses the smallest.

  Bertrand Russell

  Play, Creative, Life Is

  Bertrand Russell, Richard A. Rempel (1995). “Pacifism and Revolution, 1916-18”, p.228, Psychology Press

  40 Copy quote

• A smile happens in a flash, but its memory can last a lifetime.

  Bertrand Russell

  Smile, Memories, Lasts

  23 Copy quote

• Remember your humanity, and forget the rest.

  Bertrand Russell

  Peace, Philosophy, Humanity

  Bertrand Russell (2014). “The Autobiography of Bertrand Russell”, p.565, Routledge

  56 Copy quote

• The greatest challenge to any thinker is stating the problem in a way that will allow a solution.

  Bertrand Russell

  Challenges, Way, Problem

  31 Copy quote

• Men fear thought as they fear nothing else on earth - more than ruin, more even than death. Thought is subversive and revolutionary, destructive and terrible, thought is merciless to privilege, established institutions, and comfortable habits; thought is anarchic and lawless, indifferent to authority, careless of the well-tried wisdom of the ages. Thought looks into the pit of hell and is not afraid ... Thought is great and swift and free, the light of the world, and the chief glory of man.

  Bertrand Russell

  Courage, Men, Light

  Bertrand Russell (2009). “Why Men Fight”, p.107, Routledge

  79 Copy quote

• Even when the experts all agree, they may well be mistaken.

  Bertrand Russell

  Inspirational, Government, Intelligence

  Bertrand Russell (2004). “Sceptical Essays”, p.2, Psychology Press

  82 Copy quote

• War doesn't determine who's right, it determines who's left

  Bertrand Russell

  War, Determine, Left

  51 Copy quote

• The fact that an opinion has been widely held is no evidence whatever that it is not utterly absurd.

  Bertrand Russell

  Education, Truth, Religion

  Marriage and Morals ch. 5 (1929)

  126 Copy quote

• 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.

  Bertrand Russell

  Stupid, Men, Cynical

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

  173 Copy quote

• Almost all education has a political motive: it aims at strengthening some group, national or religious or even social, in the competition with other groups. It is this motive, in the main, which determines the subjects taught, the knowledge offered and the knowledge withheld, and also decides what mental habits the pupils are expected to acquire. Hardly anything is done to foster the inward growth of mind and spirit; in fact, those who have had the most education are very often atrophied in their mental and spiritual life.

  Bertrand Russell

  Spiritual, Religious, Educational

  "The Basic Writings of Bertrand Russell, 1903-1959".

  28 Copy quote

• A stupid man's report of what a clever man says can never be accurate, because he unconsciously translates what he hears into something he can understand.

  Bertrand Russell

  Clever, Smart, Stupid

  98 Copy quote

• If an opinion contrary to your own makes you angry, that is a sign that you are subsciously aware of having no good reason for thinking as you do. [...] The most savage controversies are those about matters as to which there is no good evidence either way. Persecution is used in theology, not in arithmetic, because in arithmetic there is knowledge, but in theology there is only opinion. So whenever you find yourself getting angry about a difference of opinion, be on your guard; you will probably find, on examination, that your belief is going beyond what the evidence warrants.

  Bertrand Russell

  Thinking, Differences, Finding Yourself

  "Unpopular Essays". Book by Bertrand Russell, p. 116, 1950.

  171 Copy quote

• Passive acceptance of the teacher's wisdom is easy to most boys and girls. It involves no effort of independent thought, and seems rational because the teacher knows more than his pupils; it is moreover the way to win the favour of the teacher unless he is a very exceptional man. Yet the habit of passive acceptance is a disastrous one in later life. It causes man to seek and to accept a leader, and to accept as a leader whoever is established in that position.

  Bertrand Russell

  Leadership, Girl, Teacher

  Bertrand Russell (2009). “Why Men Fight”, p.106, Routledge

  73 Copy quote

• The secret to happiness is to face the fact that the world is horrible.

  Bertrand Russell

  Happiness, Secret, World

  Bertrand Russell (1987). “Bertrand Russell on ethics, sex, and marriage”

  85 Copy quote

• The trouble with the world is that the stupid are cocksure and the intelligent are full of doubt.

  Bertrand Russell

  Inspirational, Success, Confidence

  136 Copy quote

• Love is wise; hatred is foolish. In this world, which is getting more and more closely interconnected, we have to learn to tolerate each other, we have to learn to put up with the fact that some people say things that we don't like. We can only live together in that way. But if we are to live together, and not die together, we must learn a kind of charity and a kind of tolerance, which is absolutely vital to the continuation of human life on this planet.

  Bertrand Russell

  Wise, Love Is, People

  "Bertrand Russell’s Message to People Living in the Year 2959: 'Love is Wise, Hatred is Foolish'". www.openculture.com. February 11, 2015.

  196 Copy quote

• When you want to teach children to think, you begin by treating them seriously when they are little, giving them responsibilities, talking to them candidly, providing privacy and solitude for them, and making them readers and thinkers of significant thoughts from the beginning. That’s if you want to teach them to think.

  Bertrand Russell

  Education, Children, Teaching

  142 Copy quote

• Science is what you know, philosophy is what you don't know.

  Bertrand Russell

  Life, Badass, Philosophy

  Bertrand Russell (1995). “My Philosophical Development”, p.204, Psychology Press

  41 Copy quote

• No man treats a motorcar as foolishly as he treats another human being. When the car will not go, he does not attribute its annoying behavior to sin; he does not say, 'You are a wicked motorcar, and I shall not give you any more petrol until you go.' He attempts to find out what is wrong and to set it right.

  Bertrand Russell

  Men, Giving, Car

  Bertrand Russell (1957). “Why I Am Not a Christian: And Other Essays on Religion and Related Subjects”, p.40, Simon and Schuster

  37 Copy quote

• I believe four ingredients are necessary for happiness: health, warm personal relations, sufficient means to keep you from want, and successful work.

  Bertrand Russell

  Believe, Mean, Successful

  103 Copy quote

• 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.

  Bertrand Russell

  Practice, Two, Ethics And Morals

  Bertrand Russell (1987). “Bertrand Russell on ethics, sex, and marriage”

  147 Copy quote

You May Also Like:

Ludwig Wittgenstein

Gottlob Frege

Alfred North Whitehead

David Hume

Russell Crowe

G. H. Hardy

Immanuel Kant

Jean-Paul Sartre