Bertrand Russell Quotes

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

It has been said that man is a rational animnal. All my life I have been searching for evidence which could support this.

It is undesirable to believe a proposition when there is no ground whatsoever for supposing it is true.

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

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

Men fear thought as they fear nothing else on earth - more than ruin - more even than death...Thought is subversive and revolutionary, destructive and terrible, thought is merciless to privilege, established institutions, and comfortable habit. Thought looks into the pit of hell and is not afraid. Thought is great and swift and free, the light of the world, and the chief glory of man.

Many people would sooner die than think; In fact, they do so.

One of the symptoms of an approaching nervous breakdown is the belief that one's work is terribly important.

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

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

The fact that an opinion has been widely held is no evidence whatsoever 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.

The time you enjoy wasting is not wasted time.

The trouble with the world is that the stupid are cocksure and the intelligent are full of doubt.

There is no nonsense so errant that it cannot be made the creed of the vast majority by adequate governmental action.

To be able to fill leisure intelligently is the last product of civilization, and at present very few people have reached this level.

Too little liberty brings stagnation and too much brings chaos.

When one admits that nothing is certain, one must, I think, also admit that some things are much more nearly certain than others.

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