" 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)
" Whereas in art nothing worth doing can be done without genius, in science even a very moderate capacity can contribute to a supreme achievement. "
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. It is much more nearly certain that we are assembled here tonight than it is that this or that political party is in the right. Certainly there are degrees of certainty, and one should be very careful to emphasize that fact, because otherwise one is landed in an utter skepticism, and complete skepticism would, of course, be totally barren and completely useless. "
Bertrand Russell, “Am I An Atheist Or An Agnostic?”, 1947 British author, mathematician, & philosopher (1872 – 1970)
" Every living thing is a sort of imperialist, seeking to transform as much as possible of its environment into itself. "
Bertrand Russell British author, mathematician, & philosopher (1872 – 1970)
" This is one of those views which are so absolutely absurd that only very learned men could possibly adopt them. "
Bertrand Russell British author, mathematician, & philosopher (1872 – 1970)
" Mathematics, rightly viewed, posses not only truth, but supreme beauty – a beauty cold and austere, like that of sculpture. "
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)
" The whole problem with the world is that fools and fanatics are always so certain of themselves, but wiser people so full of doubts. "
Bertrand Russell British author, mathematician, & philosopher (1872 – 1970)
" Order, unity and continuity are human inventions just as truly as catalogues and encyclopedias. "
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)
" This is patently absurd; but whoever wishes to become a philosopher must learn not to be frightened by absurdities. "
Bertrand Russell British author, mathematician, & philosopher (1872 – 1970)
" The most savage controversies are those about matters as to which there is no good evidence either way. "
Bertrand Russell British author, mathematician, & philosopher (1872 – 1970)
" It is undesirable to believe a proposition when there is no ground whatsoever for supposing it is true. "
Bertrand Russell, Sceptical Essays (1928), “On the Value of Scepticism” British author, mathematician, & philosopher (1872 – 1970)
" Religion is something left over from the infancy of our intelligence, it will fade away as we adopt reason and science as our guidelines. "
Bertrand Russell British author, mathematician, & philosopher (1872 – 1970)
" The trouble with the world is that the stupid are cocksure and the intelligent are full of doubt. "
Bertrand Russell 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)
" What the world needs is not dogma but an attitude of scientific inquiry combined with a belief that the torture of millions is not desirable, whether inflicted by Stalin or by a Deity imagined in the likeness of the believer. "
Bertrand Russell British author, mathematician, & philosopher (1872 – 1970)
" The point of philosophy is to start with something so simple as not to seem worth stating, and to end with something so paradoxical that no one will believe it. "
Bertrand Russell, The Philosophy of Logical Atomism 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)
" The time you enjoy wasting is not wasted time. "
Bertrand Russell British author, mathematician, & philosopher (1872 – 1970)
" Even in civilized mankind faint traces of monogamous instincts can be perceived. "
Bertrand Russell British author, mathematician, & philosopher (1872 – 1970)
" The human race may well become extinct before the end of the century. "
Bertrand Russell, Playboy Interview – March 1963 British author, mathematician, & philosopher (1872 – 1970)
" There are two motives for reading a book: one, that you enjoy it; the other, that you can boast about it. "
Bertrand Russell British author, mathematician, & philosopher (1872 – 1970)
" Everything is vague to a degree you do not realize till you have tried to make it precise. "
Bertrand Russell British author, mathematician, & philosopher (1872 – 1970)
" The true spirit of delight, the exaltation, the sense of being more than Man, which is the touchstone of the highest excellence, is to be found in mathematics as surely as in poetry. "
Bertrand Russell 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)
" Men are born ignorant, not stupid; they are made stupid by education. "
Bertrand Russell British author, mathematician, & philosopher (1872 – 1970)
" All exact science is dominated by the idea of approximation. "
Bertrand Russell British author, mathematician, & philosopher (1872 – 1970)
" Of all forms of caution, caution in love is perhaps the most fatal to true happiness. "
Bertrand Russell, Conquest of Happiness (1930) ch. 12 British author, mathematician, & philosopher (1872 – 1970)
" I would never die for my beliefs because I might be wrong. "
Bertrand Russell British author, mathematician, & philosopher (1872 – 1970)
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