Bertrand Russell Quotes

Bertrand Russell was a British philosopher, logician, mathematician, historian, and social critic. He made significant contributions to various fields of study, including philosophy of language, logic, and mathematics. Russell was also an outspoken advocate for peace, human rights, and nuclear disarmament.

Life is nothing but a competition to be the crimin... -Bertrand Russell

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

If there were in the world today any large number of people who desired their own happiness more than they desired the unhappiness of others, we could have a paradise in a few years.

To fear love is to fear life, and those who fear l... -Bertrand Russell

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

The fundamental concept in social science is Power, in the same sense in which Energy is the fundamental concept in physics.

So far as I can remember, there is not one word in... -Bertrand Russell

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

The good life is one inspired by love and guided b... -Bertrand Russell

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

Discovering the context

According to the quote, a fulfilling and meaningful life is characterized by being motivated and driven by love, compassion, and empathy towards others. It also emphasizes the value of knowledge, wisdom, and understanding in making informed decisions and choices that contribute to personal and collective well-being.

Many a man will have the courage to die gallantly, but will not have the courage to say, or even to think, that the cause for which he is asked to die is an unworthy one.

There is no need to worry about mere size. We do not necessarily respect a fat man more than a thin man. Sir Isaac Newton was very much smaller than a hippopotamus, but we do not on that account value him less.

Those who have never known the deep intimacy and the intense companionship of mutual love have missed the best thing that life has to give.

To teach how to live without certainty and yet without being paralysed by hesitation is perhaps the chief thing that philosophy, in our age, can do for those who study it.

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.

It is possible that mankind is on the threshold of a golden age; but, if so, it will be necessary first to slay the dragon that guards the door, and this dragon is religion.

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

Religion is something left over from the infancy of our intelligence, it will fade away as we adopt reason and science as our guidelines.

The time you enjoy wasting is not wasted time.

The megalomaniac differs from the narcissist by the fact that he wishes to be powerful rather than charming, and seeks to be feared rather than loved. To this type belong many lunatics and most of the great men of history.

Both in thought and in feeling, even though time be real, to realise the unimportance of time is the gate of wisdom.

The slave is doomed to worship time and fate and death, because they are greater than anything he finds in himself, and because all his thoughts are of things which they devour.

Patriotism is the willingness to kill and be kille... -Bertrand Russell

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

Discovering the context

This quote presents a critical view of patriotism, portraying it as a misguided and dangerous sentiment that can lead individuals to sacrifice their lives and take the lives of others for trivial or insignificant causes.

I would never die for my beliefs because I might b... -Bertrand Russell

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

Extreme hopes are born from extreme misery.

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The quote suggests that intense or extreme misery can give rise to equally intense hopes or aspirations. It implies that in the depths of despair, individuals may cling to ambitious or far-reaching hopes as a means of finding relief or purpose.

Men are born ignorant, not stupid. They are made s... -Bertrand Russell

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

Discovering the context

This quote implies that ignorance is a natural state of being, but individuals become foolish or unintelligent through the educational processes that may fail to nurture critical thinking and wisdom.

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.