Bertrand Russell Quotes

• 

  The whole problem with the world is that fools and fanatics are always so certain of themselves, and wiser people so full of doubts.

  Bertrand Russell

  Education, Confidence, Wisdom

  561 Copy quote

• The first step in a fascist movement is the combination under an energetic leader of a number of men who possess more than the average share of leisure, brutality, and stupidity. The next step is to fascinate fools and muzzle the intelligent, by emotional excitement on the one hand and terrorism on the other.

  Bertrand Russell

  Intelligent, Men, Emotional

  Bertrand Russell, John Greer Slater, Peter Köllner (1996). “A Fresh Look at Empiricism: 1927-42”, p.441, Psychology Press

  323 Copy quote

• If an opinion contrary to your own makes you angry, that is a sign that you are subconsciously aware of having no good reason for thinking as you do.

  Bertrand Russell

  Thinking, Deep Life, Opinion

  Bertrand Russell (2009). “Unpopular Essays”, p.99, Routledge

  58 Copy quote
• 

  Men are born ignorant, not stupid. They are made stupid by education.

  Bertrand Russell

  Education, Stupid, School

  Bertrand Russell (2013). “History of Western Philosophy: Collectors Edition”, p.578, Routledge

  193 Copy quote

• The time you enjoy wasting is not wasted time.

  Bertrand Russell

  Inspirational, Life, Happiness

  261 Copy quote
• 

  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

  Inspirational, Motivational, Fear

  Unpopular Essays (1950) "Outline of Intellectual Rubbish"

  205 Copy quote

• It's not what you have lost, but what you have left that counts.

  Bertrand Russell

  Losing, Lost, Left

  5 Copy quote

• To understand the actual world as it is, not as we should wish it to be, is the beginning of wisdom.

  Bertrand Russell

  Wisdom, Wish, World

  Bertrand Russell (2009). “Mortals and Others”, p.318, Routledge

  90 Copy quote

• Religion is based ... mainly upon fear ... fear of the mysterious, fear of defeat, fear of death. Fear is the parent of cruelty, and therefore it is no wonder if cruelty and religion have gone hand in hand. My own view on religion is that of Lucretius. I regard it as a disease born of fear and as a source of untold misery to the human race.

  Bertrand Russell

  Atheist, Race, Views

  289 Copy quote

• The most valuable things in life are not measured in monetary terms. The really important things are not houses and lands, stocks and bonds, automobiles and real state, but friendships, trust, confidence, empathy, mercy, love and faith.

  Bertrand Russell

  Love, Real, Things In Life

  64 Copy quote

• 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.

  Bertrand Russell

  Respect, Humor, Public Opinion

  "The Conquest of Happiness".

  78 Copy quote

• The good life is one inspired by love and guided by knowledge.

  Bertrand Russell

  Love, Life, Relationship

  Bertrand Russell (1957). “Why I Am Not a Christian: And Other Essays on Religion and Related Subjects”, p.56, Simon and Schuster

  35 Copy quote

• The key to happiness is accepting one unpleasant reality every day.

  Bertrand Russell

  Reality, Keys, Accepting

  33 Copy quote

• To be without some of the things you want is an indispensable part of happiness.

  Bertrand Russell

  Inspirational, Motivational, Happiness

  Bertrand Russell (2015). “The Conquest of Happiness”, p.15, Lulu Press, Inc

  42 Copy quote

• No great achievement is possible without persistent work.

  Bertrand Russell

  Perseverance, Persistence, Achievement

  Bertrand Russell (2015). “The Conquest of Happiness”, p.35, Lulu Press, Inc

  45 Copy quote

• Neither a man nor a crowd nor a nation can be trusted to act humanely or to think sanely under the influence of a great fear.

  Bertrand Russell

  Fear, Men, Thinking

  Bertrand Russell (2009). “Unpopular Essays”, p.106, Routledge

  31 Copy quote

• My whole religion is this: do every duty, and expect no reward for it, either here or hereafter.

  Bertrand Russell

  Religion, Rewards, Duty

  Bertrand Russell (1986). “Bertrand Russell on God and Religion”

  38 Copy quote

• Almost all education has a political motive: it aims at strengthening some group, national or religious or even social, in the competition with other groups. It is this motive, in the main, which determines the subjects taught, the knowledge offered and the knowledge withheld, and also decides what mental habits the pupils are expected to acquire. Hardly anything is done to foster the inward growth of mind and spirit; in fact, those who have had the most education are very often atrophied in their mental and spiritual life.

  Bertrand Russell

  Spiritual, Religious, Educational

  "The Basic Writings of Bertrand Russell, 1903-1959".

  28 Copy quote

• The world is full of magical things patiently waiting for our wits to grow sharper.

  Bertrand Russell

  Inspirational, Funny, Patience

  37 Copy quote

• I would never die for my beliefs because I might be wrong.

  Bertrand Russell

  Funny, Fear, Philosophy

  "Bertrand Russell's Greatest Paradox was His Faith" by Dan Delzell, www.christianpost.com. November 4, 2011.

  44 Copy quote
• 

  The best life is the one in which the creative impulses play the largest part and the possessive impulses the smallest.

  Bertrand Russell

  Play, Creative, Life Is

  Bertrand Russell, Richard A. Rempel (1995). “Pacifism and Revolution, 1916-18”, p.228, Psychology Press

  40 Copy quote

• We are faced with the paradoxical fact that education has become one of the chief obstacles to intelligence and freedom of thought.

  Bertrand Russell

  Education, Art, Philosophy

  Bertrand Russell, Richard A. Rempel, Beryl Haslam (2000). “Uncertain Paths to Freedom: Russia and China, 1919-22”, p.356, Psychology Press

  107 Copy quote

• A smile happens in a flash, but its memory can last a lifetime.

  Bertrand Russell

  Smile, Memories, Lasts

  23 Copy quote

• Most of the greatest evils that man has inflicted upon man have come through people feeling quite certain about something which, in fact, was false.

  Bertrand Russell

  Humility, Men, People

  Bertrand Russell (1996). “Unpopular Essays”, p.176, Psychology Press

  38 Copy quote

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

  Bertrand Russell

  Challenges, Way, Problem

  31 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