Bertrand Russell Quotes - Page 28

• Every isolated passion, is, in isolation, insane; sanity may be defined as synthesis of insanities. Every dominant passion generates a dominant fear, the fear of its non-fulfillment. Every dominant fear generates a nightmare, sometimes in form of explicit and conscious fanaticism, sometimes in paralyzing timidity, sometimes in an unconscious or subconscious terror which finds expression only in dreams. The man who wishes to preserve sanity in a dangerous world should summon in his own mind a parliament of fears, in which each in turn is voted absurd by all the others.

  Bertrand Russell

  Dream, Passion, Men

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• I do so hate to leave this world.

  Bertrand Russell

  Death, Hate, World

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• When you meet with opposition, even if it should be from your husband or your children, endeavor to overcome it by argument and not by authority, for a victory dependent upon authority is unreal and illusory.

  Bertrand Russell

  Wisdom, Children, Husband

  Bertrand Russell (2014). “The Autobiography of Bertrand Russell”, p.553, Routledge

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• To be able to concentrate for a considerable time is essential to difficult achievement.

  Bertrand Russell

  Achievement, Essentials, Able

  Bertrand Russell (2014). “On Education”, p.160, Routledge

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• There is an artist imprisoned in each one of us. Let him loose to spread joy everywhere.

  Bertrand Russell

  Artist, Joy, Spread

  "1967" by Bertrand Russell,

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• Curious learning not only makes unpleasant things less unpleasant but also makes pleasant things more pleasant.

  Bertrand Russell

  Inspirational, Curious, Pleasant

  Bertrand Russell, John Greer Slater, Peter Köllner (1996). “A Fresh Look at Empiricism: 1927-42”, p.303, Psychology Press

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• Real life is, to most men, a long second best, a perpetual compromise between the ideal and the possible.

  Bertrand Russell

  Life, Real, Men

  Bertrand Russell (2016). “Mysticism and Logic”, p.94, Bertrand Russell

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• Ethics is in origin the art of recommending to others the sacrifices required for cooperation with oneself.

  Bertrand Russell

  Art, Responsibility, Sacrifice

  Bertrand Russell (2016). “Mysticism and Logic”, p.164, Bertrand Russell

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• In considering irregular appearances, there are certain very natural mistakes which must be avoided.

  Bertrand Russell

  Mistake, Appearance, Natural

  Bertrand Russell (2016). “The Analysis of Mind”, p.187, Bertrand Russell

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• When one admits that nothing is certain one must, I think, also admit that some things are much more nearly certain than others.

  Bertrand Russell

  Thinking, Belief, Certain

  Bertrand Russell (2016). “Why I Am Not a Christian”, p.22, Lulu Press, Inc

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• I do not pretend to start with precise questions. I do not think you can start with anything precise. You have to achieve such precision as you can, as you go along.

  Bertrand Russell

  Thinking, Action, Achieve

  Bertrand Russell, Robert Charles Marsh (1988). “Logic and Knowledge: Essays 1901-1950”, p.190, Psychology Press

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• If you had the power to destroy the world, would you do so?

  Bertrand Russell

  World, Ifs

  Bertrand Russell (2014). “The Autobiography of Bertrand Russell”, p.62, Routledge

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• Human nature being what it is, people will insist upon getting some pleasure out of life.

  Bertrand Russell

  People, Human Nature, Pleasure

  Bertrand Russell (2004). “Sceptical Essays”, p.106, Psychology Press

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• The happy life is to an extraordinary extent the same as the good life.

  Bertrand Russell

  Good Life, Happy Life, Life Is

  Bertrand Russell (2015). “The Conquest of Happiness”, p.144, Lulu Press, Inc

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• William James describes a man who got the experience from laughing-gas; whenever he was under its influence, he knew the secret of the universe, but when he came to, he had forgotten it. At last, with immense effort, he wrote down the secret before the vision had faded. When completely recovered, he rushed to see what he had written. It was 'A smell of petroleum prevails throughout'.

  Bertrand Russell

  Laughter, Men, Smell

  Bertrand Russell (2013). “History of Western Philosophy: Collectors Edition”, p.109, Routledge

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• I do not believe that I am now dreaming, but I cannot prove that I am not. I am, however, quite certain that I am having certain experiences, whether they be those of a dream or those of waking life.

  Bertrand Russell

  Dream, Believe, Waking Life

  Bertrand Russell (2013). “Human Knowledge: Its Scope and Value”, p.186, Routledge

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• Americans need rest, but do not know it. I believe this to be a large part of the explanation of the crime wave in the United States.

  Bertrand Russell

  Believe, United States, Needs

  Bertrand Russell (2004). “Sceptical Essays”, p.146, Psychology Press

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• The modern man thinks that everything ought to be done for the sake of something else, and never for its own sake.

  Bertrand Russell

  Men, Thinking, Done

  Bertrand Russell (2004). “In Praise of Idleness and Other Essays”, p.11, Psychology Press

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• The slave is doomed to worship time and fate and death, because they are greater than anything he finds in himself, and because all his thoughts are of things which they devour.

  Bertrand Russell

  Death, Time, Fate

  Bertrand Russell (2016). “Mysticism and Logic”, p.85, Bertrand Russell

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• Against the vast majority of my countrymen, even at this moment, in the name of humanity and civilization, I protest against our share in the destruction of Germany. A month ago Europe was a peaceful comity of nations; if an Englishman killed a German, he was hanged. Now, if an Englishman kills a German, or if a German kills an Englishman, he is a patriot, who has deserved well of his country.

  Bertrand Russell

  Country, War, Europe

  Bertrand Russell (1994). “Prophecy and Dissent, 1914-16”, p.7, Psychology Press

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• Almost all education has a political motive.

  Bertrand Russell

  Political, Motive

  Bertrand Russell (1992). “The Basic Writings of Bertrand Russell, 1903-1959”, p.403, Psychology Press

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

  Bertrand Russell

  Taken, Mean, Animal

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

  Bertrand Russell

  Dog, Animal, Parent

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• Dread of disaster makes everybody act in the very way that increases the disaster. Psychologically the situation is analogous to that of people trampled to death when there is a panic in a theatre caused by a cry of `Fire!'.

  Bertrand Russell

  Fire, People, Theatre

  Bertrand Russell (2009). “Bertrand Russell's Best”, p.64, Routledge

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• Mankind is divided into two classes: those who, being artificial, praise nature, and those who, being natural, praise art.

  Bertrand Russell

  Art, Class, Two

  Bertrand Russell (2013). “Mortals and Others, Volume I: American Essays 1931-1935”, p.24, Routledge

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