Bertrand Russell Quotes - Page 39

• What is matter? Never mind.

  Bertrand Russell

  Mind, Matter, Spirituality

  Bertrand Russell, John G. Slater, Peter Köllner (1997). “Last Philosophical Testament: 1943-68”, p.322, Psychology Press

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• 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

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• The first dogma which I came to disbelieve was that of free will. It seemed to me that all notions of matter were determined by the laws of dynamics and could not therefore be influenced by human wills.

  Bertrand Russell

  Law, Dynamics, Matter

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• This has been my life. I have found it worth living, and would gladly live it again if the second chance were offered me.

  Bertrand Russell

  Second Chance, Found, Has Beens

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• Men fear thought as they fear nothing else on earth - more than ruin, more even than death.

  Bertrand Russell

  Halloween, Men, Anxiety

  Bertrand Russell (2015). “Why Men Fight: A Method of Abolishing the International Duel”, p.95, Lulu Press, Inc

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• Science, by itself, cannot supply us with an ethic. It can show us how to achieve a given end, and it may show us that some ends cannot be achieved. But among ends that can be achieved our choice must be decided by other than purely scientific considerations. If a man were to say, "I hate the human race, and I think it would be a good thing if it were exterminated," we could say, "Well, my dear sir, let us begin the process with you." But this is hardly argument, and no amount of science could prove such a man mistaken.

  Bertrand Russell

  Hate, Mistake, Science

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• The infliction of cruelty with a good conscience is a delight to moralists - that is why they invented hell.

  Bertrand Russell

  Cynical, Religion, Atheism

  Sceptical Essays "On the Value of Scepticism" (1928)

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• Punctuality is a quality the need of which is bound up with social co-operation. It has nothing to do with the relation of the soul to God, or with mystic insight, or with any of the matters with which the more elevated and spiritual moralists are concerned.

  Bertrand Russell

  Spiritual, Soul, Quality

  Bertrand Russell (2013). “Education and the Social Order”, p.25, Routledge

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• To save the world requires faith and courage: faith in reason, and courage to proclaim what reason shows to be true.

  Bertrand Russell

  World, Reason, Being True

  Bertrand Russell (2009). “The Basic Writings of Bertrand Russell”, p.19, Routledge

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• Abstract work, if one wishes to do it well, must be allowed to destroy one's humanity; one raises a monument which is at the same time a tomb, in which, voluntarily, one slowly inters oneself.

  Bertrand Russell

  Learning, Science, Discovery

  Bertrand Russell (1998). “Autobiography”, p.168, Psychology Press

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• Science, by itself, cannot supply us with an ethic. It can show us how to achieve a given end, and it may show us that some ends cannot be achieved.

  Bertrand Russell

  Science, May, Ethics

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• If you question any candid person who is no longer young, he is very likely to tell you that, having tasted life in this world, he has no wish to begin again as a "new boy" in another.

  Bertrand Russell

  Boys, Wish, World

  Bertrand Russell (2009). “Bertrand Russell's Best”, p.32, Routledge

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• When the journey from means to end is not too long, the means themselves are enjoyed if the end is ardently desired.

  Bertrand Russell

  Mean, Journey, Long

  Bertrand Russell (2009). “Authority and the Individual”, p.41, Routledge

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• For the learning of every virtue there is an appropriate discipline, and for the learning of suspended judgment the best discipline is philosophy.

  Bertrand Russell

  Philosophy, Discipline, Philosopher

  Bertrand Russell, John G. Slater, Peter Köllner (1997). “Last Philosophical Testament: 1943-68”, p.380, Psychology Press

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• The demand for certainty is one which is natural to man, but is nevertheless an intellectual vice. If you take your children for a picnic on a doubtful day, they will demand a dogmatic answer as to whether it will be fine or wet, and be disappointed in you when you cannot be sure.

  Bertrand Russell

  Nature, Children, Science

  Bertrand Russell, John G. Slater, Peter Köllner (1997). “Last Philosophical Testament: 1943-68”, p.379, Psychology Press

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• The frequency with which a man experiences lust depends upon his own physical condition, whereas the occasion which rouse such feelings in him depend upon the social conventions to which he is accustomed

  Bertrand Russell

  Men, Feelings, Lust

  Bertrand Russell (2009). “Marriage and Morals”, p.71, Routledge

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• I can only say that, while my own opinions as to ethics do not satisfy me, other people's satisfy me still less.

  Bertrand Russell

  People, Ethics, Opinion

  Bertrand Russell, John G. Slater, Peter Köllner (1997). “Last Philosophical Testament: 1943-68”, p.51, Psychology Press

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• The late F. W. H. Myers used to tell how he asked a man at a dinner table what he thought would happen to him when he died. The man tried to ignore the question, but, on being pressed, replied: "Oh well, I suppose I shall inherit eternal bliss, but I wish you wouldn't talk about such unpleasant subjects."

  Bertrand Russell

  Men, Wish, Tables

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• Fear is the parent of cruelty, and therefore it is no wonder if cruelty and religion go hand in hand.

  Bertrand Russell

  Atheist, Fear, Hands

  Bertrand Russell (1993). “The Quotable Bertrand Russell”

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• This is one of those views which are so absolutely absurd that only very learned men could possibly adopt them.

  Bertrand Russell

  Men, Views, Confusion

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• Human life, its growth, its hopes, fears, loves, et cetera, are the result of accidents

  Bertrand Russell

  Humanity, Growth, Fear Of Love

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• ...impregnation will be regarded in an entirely different manner, more in the light of a surgical operation, so that it will be thought not ladylike to have it performed in the natural manner.

  Bertrand Russell

  Eugenics, Light, Different

  Bertrand Russell (2017). “The Scientific Outlook”, p.120, Routledge

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• A marriage is likely to be called happy if neither party ever expected to get much happiness out of it.

  Bertrand Russell

  Marriage, Party, Expected

  Bertrand Russell (2009). “Marriage and Morals”, p.84, Routledge

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• I do not pretend that birth control is the only way in which population can be kept from increasing. There are others, which, one must suppose, opponents of birth control would prefer.

  Bertrand Russell

  Population, Birth Control, Opponents

  Bertrand Russell (2015). “The Impact of Science On Society”, p.85, Lulu Press, Inc

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• All traditional logic habitually assumes that precise symbols are being employed. It is therefore not applicable to this terrestial life but only to an imagined celestial existence... logic takes us nearer to heaven than other studies.

  Bertrand Russell

  Heaven, Logic, Study

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