" Our great democracies still tend to think that a stupid man is more likely to be honest than a clever man. "

Bertrand Russell British author, mathematician, & philosopher (1872 – 1970)

" Patriotism is the willingness to kill and be killed for trivial reasons. "

Bertrand Russell British author, mathematician, & philosopher (1872 – 1970)

" Sin is geographical. "

Bertrand Russell British author, mathematician, & philosopher (1872 – 1970)

" In the part of this universe that we know there is great injustice, and often the good suffer, and often the wicked prosper, and one hardly knows which of those is the more annoying. "

Bertrand Russell British author, mathematician, & philosopher (1872 – 1970)

" A sense of duty is useful in work, but offensive in personal relations. People wish to be liked, not be endured with patient resignation. "

Bertrand Russell, Conquest of Happiness (1930) ch. 10 British author, mathematician, & philosopher (1872 – 1970)

" We know too much and feel too little. At least, we feel too little of those creative emotions from which a good life springs. "

Bertrand Russell British author, mathematician, & philosopher (1872 – 1970)

" We know very little, and yet it is astonishing that we know so much, and still more astonishing that so little knowledge can give us so much power. "

Bertrand Russell British author, mathematician, & philosopher (1872 – 1970)

" The people who are regarded as moral luminaries are those who forego ordinary pleasures themselves and find compensation in interfering with the pleasures of others. "

Bertrand Russell British author, mathematician, & philosopher (1872 – 1970)

" So far as I can remember, there is not one word in the Gospels in praise of intelligence. "

Bertrand Russell British author, mathematician, & philosopher (1872 – 1970)

" The secret of happiness is this: Let your interests be as wide as possible, and let your reactions to the things and persons that interest you be as far as possible friendly rather that hostile. "

Bertrand Russell British author, mathematician, & philosopher (1872 – 1970)

" But all who are not lunitics are agreed about certain things: That it is better to be alive than dead, better to be adequately fed than starved, better to be free than to be a slave. Many people desire these things only for themselves and their friends; they are quite content that their enemies should suffer. These people can be refuted by science: Mankind has become so much one family that we cannot insure our own prosperity except by insuring that of everyone else. If you wish to be happy yourself, you must resign yourself to seeing others also happy. "

Bertrand Russell, from the essay “The Science to Save Us From Science” British author, mathematician, & philosopher (1872 – 1970)

" 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 widespread belief is more likely to be foolish than sensible. "

Bertrand Russell, Marriage and Morals (1929) ch. 5 British author, mathematician, & philosopher (1872 – 1970)

" To fear love is to fear life, and those who fear life are already three parts dead. "

Bertrand Russell, Marriage and Morals (1929) ch. 19 British author, mathematician, & philosopher (1872 – 1970)

" Patriots always talk of dying for their country and never of killing for their country. "

Bertrand Russell British author, mathematician, & philosopher (1872 – 1970)

" 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, “Am I An Atheist Or An Agnostic?”, 1947 British author, mathematician, & philosopher (1872 – 1970)

" The place of the father in the modern suburban family is a very small one, particularly if he plays golf. "

Bertrand Russell British author, mathematician, & philosopher (1872 – 1970)

" One should as a rule respect public opinion in so far as is necessary to avoid starvation and to keep out of prison, but anything that goes beyond this is voluntary submission to an unnecessary tyranny, and is likely to interfere with happiness in all kinds of ways. "

Bertrand Russell, Conquest of Happiness (1930) ch. 9 British author, mathematician, & philosopher (1872 – 1970)

" The only thing that will redeem mankind is cooperation. "

Bertrand Russell British author, mathematician, & philosopher (1872 – 1970)

" Freedom of opinion can only exist when the government thinks itself secure. "

Bertrand Russell British author, mathematician, & philosopher (1872 – 1970)

" One should respect public opinion insofar as is necessary to avoid starvation and keep out of prison, but anything that goes beyond this is voluntary submission to an unnecessary tyranny. "

Bertrand Russell British author, mathematician, & philosopher (1872 – 1970)

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

Bertrand Russell British author, mathematician, & philosopher (1872 – 1970)

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

Bertrand Russell British author, mathematician, & philosopher (1872 – 1970)

" The wise man thinks about his troubles only when there is some purpose in doing so; at other times he thinks about others things. "

Bertrand Russell British author, mathematician, & philosopher (1872 – 1970)

" Government can easily exist without laws, but law cannot exist without government. "

Bertrand Russell British author, mathematician, & philosopher (1872 – 1970)

" The man who suffers from a sense of sin is suffering from a particular kind of self-love. In all this vast universe the thing that appears to him of most importance is that he himself should be virtuous. It is a grave defect in certain forms of traditional religion that they have encouraged this particular kind of self-absorption. "

Bertrand Russell, The Conquest of Happiness British author, mathematician, & philosopher (1872 – 1970)

" 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 British author, mathematician, & philosopher (1872 – 1970)

" Fear is the main source of superstition, and one of the main sources of cruelty. To conquer fear is the beginning of wisdom. "

Bertrand Russell, Unpopular Essays (1950), “Outline of Intellectual Rubbish” British author, mathematician, & philosopher (1872 – 1970)

" Life is nothing but a competition to be the criminal rather than the victim. "

Bertrand Russell British author, mathematician, & philosopher (1872 – 1970)

" 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, Sceptical Essays (1928), “Eastern and Western Ideals of Happiness” British author, mathematician, & philosopher (1872 – 1970)

" Every man, wherever he goes, is encompassed by a cloud of comforting convictions, which move with him like flies on a summer day. "

Bertrand Russell, Sceptical Essays (1928), “Dreams and Facts” British author, mathematician, & philosopher (1872 – 1970)

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