Bertrand Russell Quotes - Page 40

• The State is a collection of officials, different for difference purposes, drawing comfortable incomes so long as the status quo is preserved. The only alteration they are likely to desire in the status quo is an increase of bureaucracy and the power of bureaucrats.

  Bertrand Russell

  Drawing, Differences, Long

  "Sceptical Essays". Book by Bertrand Russell. Chapter 12: "Free Thought and Official Propaganda", 1928.

  5 Copy quote

• Aristotle is the last Greek philosopher who faces the world cheerfully; after him, all have, in one form or another, a philosophy of retreat.

  Bertrand Russell

  Philosophy, Greek, World

  Bertrand Russell (2013). “History of Western Philosophy: Collectors Edition”, p.195, Routledge

  5 Copy quote

• 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

  5 Copy quote

• The desire for legitimate offspring is, in fact, according to the Catholic Church, the only motive which can justify sexual intercourse.

  Bertrand Russell

  Catholic, Church, Desire

  Bertrand Russell (2014). “Bertrand Russell's Best”, p.43, Routledge

  4 Copy quote

• The Eugenic Society . . . is perpetually bewailing the fact that wage-earners breed faster than middle-class people.

  Bertrand Russell

  Class, People, Facts

  Bertrand Russell (2017). “Marriage and Morals”, p.69, Routledge

  4 Copy quote

• The newspapers at one time said that I was dead but after carefully examining the evidence I came to the conclusion that this statement was false.

  Bertrand Russell

  Newspapers, Said, Evidence

  Bertrand Russell (2013). “An Inquiry into Meaning and Truth”, p.79, Routledge

  4 Copy quote

• Boys and girls should be taught respect for each other's liberty... and that jealousy and possessiveness kill love.

  Bertrand Russell

  Life, Girl, Boys

  Bertrand Russell (2013). “What I Believe”, p.33, Routledge

  48 Copy quote

• Cruelty is, in theory, a perfectly adequate ground for divorce, but it may be interpreted so as to become absurd.

  Bertrand Russell

  Divorce, Adequate, May

  Bertrand Russell (2009). “Marriage and Morals”, p.146, Routledge

  5 Copy quote

• Continuity of purpose is one of the most essential ingredients of happiness in the long run, and for most men that comes chiefly through their work.

  Bertrand Russell

  Running, Work, Men

  Bertrand Russell (2015). “The Conquest of Happiness”, p.122, Lulu Press, Inc

  8 Copy quote

• The raw fruits of the earth were made for human sustenance. Even the white tails of rabbits, according to some theologians, have a purpose, namely to make it easier for sportsmen to shoot them. There are, it is true, some inconveniences: lions and tigers are too fierce, the summer is too hot, and the winter too cold. But these things only began after Adam ate the apple; I before that, all animals were vegetarians, and the season was always spring. If only Adam had been content with peaches and nectarines, grapes and pears and pineapples, these blessings would still be ours.

  Bertrand Russell

  Summer, Spring, Winter

  29 Copy quote

• Public opinion is always more tyrannical towards those who obviously fear it than towards those who feel indifferent to it.

  Bertrand Russell

  Happiness, Public Opinion, Indifferent

  Bertrand Russell (2015). “The Conquest of Happiness”, p.75, Lulu Press, Inc

  6 Copy quote

• There is no excuse for deceiving children. And when, as must happen in conventional families, they find that their parents have lied, they lose confidence in them and feel justified in lying to them.

  Bertrand Russell

  Education, Children, Lying

  Bertrand Russell (1957). “Why I Am Not a Christian: And Other Essays on Religion and Related Subjects”, p.177, Simon and Schuster

  5 Copy quote

• There is no need to worry about mere size. We do not necessarily respect a fat man more than a thin man. Sir Isaac Newton was very much smaller than a hippopotamus, but we do not on that account value him less.

  Bertrand Russell

  Funny, Men, Weight Loss

  Bertrand Russell (2009). “The Basic Writings of Bertrand Russell”, p.370, Routledge

  16 Copy quote

• The luxury to disparage freedom is the privilege of those who already possess it.

  Bertrand Russell

  Luxury, Privilege, Free Will

  8 Copy quote

• The more intense has been the religion of any period and the more profound has been the dogmatic belief, the greater has been the cruelty and the worse has been the state of affairs.

  Bertrand Russell

  Profound, Religion, Belief

  Bertrand Russell (1957). “Why I Am Not a Christian: And Other Essays on Religion and Related Subjects”, p.20, Simon and Schuster

  8 Copy quote

• As for earthquakes, though they were still formidable, they were so interesting that men of science could hardly regret them.

  Bertrand Russell

  Regret, Men, Earthquakes

  Bertrand Russell (2008). “History of Western Philosophy”, p.538, Simon and Schuster

  6 Copy quote

• As men begin to grow civilized, they cease to be satisfied with mere taboos.

  Bertrand Russell

  Men, Satisfied, Grows

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

  6 Copy quote

• I think the subject which will be of most importance politically is mass psychology.... Its importance has been enormously increased by the growth of modern methods of propaganda. Of these the most influential is what is called 'education.' Religion plays a part, though a diminishing one; the press, the cinema, and the radio play an increasing part.... It may be hoped that in time anybody will be able to persuade anybody of anything if he can catch the patient young and is provided by the State with money and equipment.

  Bertrand Russell

  Thinking, Play, Psychology

  Bertrand Russell (2016). “The Impact of Science on Society”, p.27, Routledge

  7 Copy quote

• Sir Arthur Eddington deduces religion from the fact that atoms do not obey the laws of mathematics. Sir James Jeans deduces it from the fact that they do.

  Bertrand Russell

  Science, Law, Jeans

  Bertrand Russell (2009). “The Scientific Outlook”, p.77, Routledge

  7 Copy quote

• Have no respect for the authority of others, for there are always contrary authorities to be found

  Bertrand Russell

  No Respect, Authority, Found

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

  4 Copy quote

• Diversity is essential to happiness and in Utopia there is hardly any. This is a defect in all planned social systems.

  Bertrand Russell

  Diversity, Essentials, Investing

  Bertrand Russell (2013). “History of Western Philosophy: Collectors Edition”, p.421, Routledge

  4 Copy quote

• Force plays a much larger part in the government of the world than it did before 1914, and what is especially alarming, force tends increasingly to fall into the hands of those who are enemies of civilization.

  Bertrand Russell

  Fall, Government, Hands

  Bertrand Russell, Harry Ruja (2014). “Mortals and Others, Volume II: American Essays 1931-1935”, p.27, Routledge

  6 Copy quote

• Dr. Arnold . . . the admired reformer of public schools, came across some cranks who thought it a mistake to flog boys. Anyone reading his outburst of furious indignation against this opinion will be forced to the conclusion that he enjoyed inflicting floggings.

  Bertrand Russell

  Mistake, Reading, School

  Bertrand Russell (1996). “Unpopular Essays”, p.161, Psychology Press

  6 Copy quote

• Right discipline consists, not in external compulsion, but in the habits of mind which lead spontaneously to desirable rather than undesirable activities.

  Bertrand Russell

  Discipline, Mind, Willpower

  Bertrand Russell (2014). “On Education”, p.26, Routledge

  52 Copy quote

• It is permissible with certain precautions to speak in print of coitus, but it is not permissible to employ the monosyllabic synonym for this word.

  Bertrand Russell

  Atheism, Speak, Precaution

  Bertrand Russell (2009). “Bertrand Russell's Best”, p.51, Routledge

  7 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