Bertrand Russell

British logician and philosopher [Nobel Prize in Literature in 1950]

Nationality: British

Type: Philosopher

Birth: 1872-1970

Page: 1

Drunkenness is temporary suicide.

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Indignation is a submission of our thoughts, but not of our desires.

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No matter how eloquently a dog may bark, he cannot tell you that his parents were poor, but honest.

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When the intensity of emotional conviction subsides, a man who is in the habit of reasoning will search for logical grounds in favor of the belief which he finds in himself.

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What we need is not the will to believe, but the wish to find out.

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Boredom is a vital problem for the moralist, since at least half the sins of mankind are caused by the fear of it.

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Unless one is taught what to do with success after getting it, achievement of it must inevitably leave him prey to boredom.

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Advocates of capitalism are very apt to appeal to the sacred principles of liberty, which are embodied in one maxim: The fortunate must not be restrained in the exercise of tyranny over the unfortunate.

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What men want is not knowledge, but certainty.

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All movements go too far.

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If all our happiness is bound up entirely in our personal circumstances it is difficult not to demand of life more than it has to give.

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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.

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The only thing that will redeem mankind is cooperation.

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Most people would rather die than think: many do.

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

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All human activity is prompted by desire.

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In all affairs it's a healthy thing now and then to hang a question mark on the things you have long taken for granted.

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

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A sense of duty is useful in work but offensive in personal relations. People wish to be liked, not to be endured with patient resignation.

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Men are born ignorant, not stupid; they are made stupid by education.

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We know too much and feel too little. At least, we feel too little of those creative emotions from which a good life springs.

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In America everybody is of opinion that he has no social superiors, since all men are equal, but he does not admit that he has no social inferiors.

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In the revolt against idealism, the ambiguities of the word ''experience'' have been perceived, with the result that realists have more and more avoided the word.

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Even when the experts all agree, they may well be mistaken.

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Those who forget good and evil and seek only to know the facts are more likely to achieve good than those who view the world through the distorting medium of their own desires.

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The fundamental defect with fathers is that they want their children to be a credit to them.

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

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If fifty million people say a foolish thing, it is still a foolish thing.

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Folly is perennial, yet the human race has survived.

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Freedom of opinion can only exist when the government thinks itself secure.

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No one gossips about other people's secret virtues.

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

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To be happy in this world, especially when youth is past, it is necessary to feel oneself not merely an isolated individual whose day will soon be over, but part of the stream of life slowing on from the first germ to the remote and unknown future.