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Bertrand Russell

484 quotes

• “People seem good while they are oppressed, but they only wish to become oppressors in their turn: life is nothing but a competition to be the criminal rather than the victim.”

  Bertrand Russell (1872–1970) first seen 1920 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source

  Recorded in: Letter to Ottoline Morrell, 17 December, 1920

• “In art [the Chinese] aim at being exquisite, and in life at being reasonable.”

  Bertrand Russell (1872–1970) first seen 1922 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source

  Recorded in: The Problem of China (1922), Ch. XI: Chinese and Western Civilization Contrasted

• “The typical Westerner wishes to be the cause of as many changes as possible in his environment; the typical Chinaman wishes to enjoy as much and as delicately as possible.”

  Bertrand Russell (1872–1970) first seen 1922 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source

  Recorded in: The Problem of China (1922), Ch. XII: The Chinese Character

• “Nine-tenths of the activities of a modern Government are harmful; therefore the worse they are performed, the better.”

  Bertrand Russell (1872–1970) first seen 1922 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source

  Recorded in: The Problem of China (1922), Ch. XII: The Chinese Character

• “The Chinese are a great nation, incapable of permanent suppression by foreigners. They will not consent to adopt our vices in order to acquire military strength; but they are willing to adopt our virtues in order to advance in wisdom. I think they are the only people in the world who quite genuinely believe that wisdom is more precious than rubies. That is why the West regards them as uncivilized.”

  Bertrand Russell (1872–1970) first seen 1922 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source

  Recorded in: The Problem of China (1922), Ch. XIII: Higher education in China

• “Mystery is delightful, but unscientific, since it depends upon ignorance.”

  Bertrand Russell (1872–1970) first seen 1921 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source

  Recorded in: The Analysis of Mind (1921), Lecture I: Recent Criticisms of "Consciousness

• “There is no logical impossibility in the hypothesis that the world sprang into being five minutes ago, exactly as it then was, with a population that "remembered" a wholly unreal past. There is no logically necessary connection between events at different times; therefore nothing that is happening now or will happen in the future can disprove the hypothesis that the world began five minutes ago.”

  Bertrand Russell (1872–1970) first seen 1921 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source

  Recorded in: The Analysis of Mind (1921), Lecture IX: Memory, p. 159

• “The supreme maxim in scientific philosophising is this: wherever possible, logical constructions are to be substituted for inferred entities.”

  Bertrand Russell (1872–1970) first seen 1923 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source

  Recorded in: Quoted in Hawes The Logic of Contemporary English Realism (1923), p. 110;thumb|Most people would die sooner than think – in fact they do so. cf. Ockham's maxim: entia non sunt multiplicanda praeter necessitatem.

• “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 (1872–1970) first seen 1923 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source

  Recorded in: 'Vagueness', first published in The Australasian Journal of Psychology and Philosophy, 1 June, 1923

• “We all have a tendency to think that the world must conform to our prejudices. The opposite view involves some effort of thought, and most people would die sooner than think – in fact they do so.”

  Bertrand Russell (1872–1970) first seen 1925 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source

  Recorded in: The ABC of Relativity (1925), p. 166

• “the average man's opinions are much less foolish than they would be if he thought for himself: in science, at least, his respect for authority is on the whole beneficial.”

  Bertrand Russell (1872–1970) first seen 1926 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source

  Recorded in: On Education, Especially in Early Childhood (1926), Ch. 2: The Aims of Education, p. 63

• “An irrational fear should never be simply let alone, but should be gradually overcome by familiarity with its fainter forms.”

  Bertrand Russell (1872–1970) first seen 1926 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source

  Recorded in: On Education, Especially in Early Childhood (1926), Ch. 4: Fear

• “Written words differ from spoken words in being material structures. A spoken word is a process in the physical world, having an essential time-order; a written word is a series of pieces of matter, having an essential space-order.”

  Bertrand Russell (1872–1970) first seen 1927 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source

  Recorded in: An Outline of Philosophy Ch.4 Language (1927)

• “Our words tend to conceal what is private and particular in our impressions, and to make us believe that different people live in a common world to a greater extent than is in fact the case.”

  Bertrand Russell (1872–1970) first seen 1927 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source

  Recorded in: An Outline of Philosophy Ch.15 The Nature of our Knowledge of Physics (1927)

• “The tendency of our perceptions is to emphasise increasingly the objective elements in an impression, unless we have some special reason, as artists have, for doing the opposite.”

  Bertrand Russell (1872–1970) first seen 1927 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source

  Recorded in: An Outline of Philosophy Ch.15 The Nature of our Knowledge of Physics (1927)

• “It must not be supposed that the subjective elements are any less 'real' than the objective elements; they are only less important... because they do not point to anything beyond ourselves...”

  Bertrand Russell (1872–1970) first seen 1927 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source

  Recorded in: An Outline of Philosophy Ch.15 The Nature of our Knowledge of Physics (1927)

• “The camera is as subjective as we are.”

  Bertrand Russell (1872–1970) first seen 1927 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source

  Recorded in: An Outline of Philosophy Ch.15 The Nature of our Knowledge of Physics (1927)

• “There is a connected set of events (light-waves) travelling outward from a centre... there are some respects in which all events are alike, and others in which they differ... We must not think of a light-wave as a 'thing', but as a connected group of rhythmical events. The mathematical characteristics of such a group can be inferred by physics, but the intrinsic character of the component events cannot be inferred.”

  Bertrand Russell (1872–1970) first seen 1927 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source

  Recorded in: An Outline of Philosophy Ch.15 The Nature of our Knowledge of Physics (1927)

• “Modern physics... reduces matter to a set of events which proceed outward from a centre. If there is something further in the centre itself, we cannot know about it, and it is irrelevant to physics.”

  Bertrand Russell (1872–1970) first seen 1927 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source

  Recorded in: An Outline of Philosophy Ch.15 The Nature of our Knowledge of Physics (1927)

• “Physics is mathematical not because we know so much about the physical world, but because we know so little: it is only its mathematical properties that we can discover.”

  Bertrand Russell (1872–1970) first seen 1927 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source

  Recorded in: An Outline of Philosophy Ch.15 The Nature of our Knowledge of Physics (1927)

• “I went to Salt Lake City and the Mormons tried to convert me, but when I found they forbade tea and tobacco I thought it was no religion for me.”

  Bertrand Russell (1872–1970) first seen 1929 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source

  Recorded in: Letter to C. P. Sanger, 23 December, 1929

• “I believe that Communism is necessary to the world, and I believe that the heroism of Russia has fired men's hopes in a way which was essential to the realization of Communism in the future. Regarded as a splendid attempt, without which ultimate success would have been very improbable, Bolshevism deserves the gratitude and admiration of all the progressive part of mankind.”

  Bertrand Russell (1872–1970) said by 1970 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source

• “A fundamental economic reconstruction, bringing with it very far-reaching changes in ways of thinking and feeling, in philosophy and art and private relations, seems absolutely necessary if industrialism is to become the servant of man instead of his master. In all this, I am at one with the Bolsheviks; politically, I criticize them only when their methods seem to involve a departure from their own ideals.”

  Bertrand Russell (1872–1970) said by 1970 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source

• “The hopes which inspire communism are, in the main, as admirable as those instilled by the Sermon on the Mount, but they are held as fanatically and are as likely to do as much harm.”

  Bertrand Russell (1872–1970) said by 1970 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source

• “...it [is] possible to suppose that, if Russia is allowed to have peace, an amazing industrial development may take place, making Russia a rival of the United States.”

  Bertrand Russell (1872–1970) said by 1970 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source

• “One who believes, as I do, that the free intellect is the chief engine of human progress, cannot but be fundamentally opposed to Bolshevism, as much as to the Church of Rome.”

  Bertrand Russell (1872–1970) said by 1970 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source

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

  Bertrand Russell (1872–1970) said by 1970 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source

• “The governors of the world believe, and have always believed, that virtue can only be taught by teaching falsehood, and that any man who knew the truth would be wicked. I disbelieve this, absolutely and entirely. I believe that love of truth is the basis of all real virtue, and that virtues based upon lies can only do harm.”

  Bertrand Russell (1872–1970) said by 1970 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source

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

  Bertrand Russell (1872–1970) said by 1970 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source

• “We are and irrefutable arbiters of value, and in the world of value Nature is only a part. Thus in this world we are greater than Nature. In the world of values, Nature in itself is neutral, neither good nor bad deserving of neither admiration nor censure. It is we who create value and our desires which confer value. In this realm we are kings, and we debase our kingship if we bow down to Nature. It is for us to determine our good life, not for Nature – not even for Nature personified as God.”

  Bertrand Russell (1872–1970) said by 1970 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source

• “Love is better than hate, because it brings harmony instead of conflict into the desires of the persons concerned. Two people between whom there is love succeed or fail together, but when two people hate each other the success of either is the failure of the other.”

  Bertrand Russell (1872–1970) said by 1970 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source

• “Certain forms of sex which do not lead to children are at present punished by the criminal law: this is purely superstitious, since the matter is one which affects no one except the parties directly concerned... The peculiar importance attached, at present, to adultery is quite irrational... Moral rules ought not to be such as to make instinctive happiness impossible.”

  Bertrand Russell (1872–1970) said by 1970 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source

• “The old often envy the young; when they do, they are apt to treat them cruelly.”

  Bertrand Russell (1872–1970) said by 1970 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source

• “I am as firmly convinced that religions do harm as I am that they are untrue.”

  Bertrand Russell (1872–1970) said by 1970 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source

• “I think all the great religions of the world - Buddhism, Hinduism, Christianity, Islam, and Communism - both untrue and harmful. It is evident as a matter of logic that, since they disagree, not more than one of them can be true. With very few exception, the religions which a man accepts is that of the community in which he lives, which makes it obvious that the influence of environment is what has led him to accept the religion in question.”

  Bertrand Russell (1872–1970) first seen 1957 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source

  Recorded in: Preface (1957)

• “Apart from logical cogency, there is to me something a little odd about the ethical valuations of those who think that an omnipotent, omniscient, and benevolent Deity, after preparing the ground by many millions of years of lifeless nebulae, would consider Himself adequately rewarded by the final emergence of Hitler and Stalin and the H-bomb.”

  Bertrand Russell (1872–1970) first seen 1957 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source

  Recorded in: Preface (1957)

• “Belief in eternal hell fire was an essential item of Christian belief until pretty recent times. In this country, as you know, it ceased to be an essential item because of a decision of the Privy Council, and from that decision the Archbishop of Canterbury and the Archbishop of York dissented; but in this country our religion is settled by Act of Parliament, and therefore the Privy Council was able to override Their Graces and hell was no longer necessary to a Christian. Consequently I shall not insist that a Christian must believe in hell.”

  Bertrand Russell (1872–1970) first seen 1927 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source

  Recorded in: What is a Christian? (1927)

• “If everything must have a cause, then God must have a cause. If there can be anything without a cause, it may just as well be the world as God, so that there cannot be any validity in that argument. It is exactly of the same nature as the Hindu's view, that the world rested upon an elephant and the elephant rested upon a tortoise; and when they said, "How about the tortoise?" the Indian said, "Suppose we change the subject." The argument is really no better than that.”

  Bertrand Russell (1872–1970) said by 1970 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source

• “...You could take up the line that some of the gnostics took up – a line which I often thought was a very plausible one – that as a matter of fact this world that we know was made by the devil at a moment when God was not looking. There is a good deal to be said for that, and I am not concerned to refute it.”

  Bertrand Russell (1872–1970) said by 1970 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source

• “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 (1872–1970) said by 1970 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source

• “I have no doubt that the present Prime Minister, for instance, is a most sincere Christian, but I should not advise any of you to go and smite him on one cheek. I think you might find that he thought this text was intended in a figurative sense.”

  Bertrand Russell (1872–1970) said by 1970 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source

• “I knew a parson who frightened his congregation terribly by telling them that the second coming was very imminent indeed, but they were much consoled when they found that he was planting trees in his garden.”

  Bertrand Russell (1872–1970) said by 1970 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source

• “There is one very serious defect to my mind in Christ's moral character, and that is that He believed in hell. I do not myself feel that any person who is really profoundly humane can believe in everlasting punishment.”

  Bertrand Russell (1872–1970) said by 1970 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source

• “I do not think that the real reason why people accept religion has anything to do with argumentation. They accept religion on emotional grounds. One is often told that it is a very wrong thing to attack religion, because religion makes men virtuous. So I am told; I have not noticed it.”

  Bertrand Russell (1872–1970) said by 1970 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source

• “You find as you look around the world that every single bit of progress of humane feeling, every improvement in the criminal law, every step toward the diminution of war, every step toward better treatment of the colored races, or even mitigation of slavery, every moral progress that there has been in the world, has been consistently opposed by the organized churches of the world. I say quite deliberately that the Christian religion, as organized in its churches, has been and still is the principal enemy of moral progress in the world.”

  Bertrand Russell (1872–1970) said by 1970 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source

• “[The church] is in its major part an opponent still of progress and improvement in all the ways that diminish suffering in the world, because it has chosen to label as morality a certain narrow set of rules of conduct which have nothing to do with human happiness; and when you say that this or that ought to be done because it would make for human happiness, they think that has nothing to do with the matter at all. "What has human happiness to do with morals? The object of morals is not to make people happy.”

  Bertrand Russell (1872–1970) said by 1970 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source

• “I wish to propose for the reader's favourable consideration a doctrine which may, I fear, appear wildly paradoxical and subversive. The doctrine in question is this: that it is undesirable to believe a proposition when there is no ground whatever for supposing it true.”

  Bertrand Russell (1872–1970) said by 1970 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source

• “The infliction of cruelty with a good conscience is a delight to moralists. That is why they invented Hell.”

  Bertrand Russell (1872–1970) said by 1970 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source

• “Man is essentially a dreamer, wakened sometimes for a moment by some peculiarly obtrusive element in the outer world, but lapsing again quickly into the happy somnolence of imagination. Freud has shown how largely our dreams at night are the pictured fulfilment of our wishes; he has, with an equal measure of truth, said the same of day-dreams; and he might have included the day-dreams which we call beliefs.”

  Bertrand Russell (1872–1970) said by 1970 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source

• “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 (1872–1970) said by 1970 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source

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