Bertrand Russell
Bertrand Russell
Bertrand Arthur William Russell, 3rd Earl Russell, OM, FRSwas a British philosopher, logician, mathematician, historian, writer, social critic, political activist and Nobel laureate. At various points in his life he considered himself a liberal, a socialist, and a pacifist, but he also admitted that he had "never been any of these things, in any profound sense". He was born in Monmouthshire into one of the most prominent aristocratic families in the United Kingdom...
NationalityBritish
ProfessionPhilosopher
Date of Birth18 May 1872
condemn irony uses wit
His wit and irony - particularly when he uses them to condemn superstition - are inimitable
brother elder free good hankering ignorant intelligence mainly needs partly past primarily religion stand terror troubles unknown uttered wish words
Religion is based, I think, primarily and mainly upon fear. It is partly the terror of the unknown and partly, as I have said, the wish to feel that you have a kind of elder brother who will stand by you in all your troubles and disputes....A good world needs knowledge, kindliness, and courage; it does not need a regretful hankering after the past or a fettering of the free intelligence by the words uttered long ago by ignorant men.
creative force rather reason
Reason is a harmonizing, controlling force rather than a creative one.
aim preventing
Organizations are of two kinds, those which aim at getting something done, and those which aim at preventing something from being done
knowledge love mainly power pursuit
The pursuit of knowledge is, I think, mainly actuated by love of power
absence almost knowledge necessity philosophy silly sure
Some kind of philosophy is a necessity to all but the most thoughtless, and in the absence of knowledge it is almost sure to be a silly philosophy.
action constantly deeply event human imperative political politics springs thinking
If politics is to become scientific, and if the event is not to be constantly surprising, it is imperative that our political thinking should penetrate more deeply into the springs of human action
direction herd judged pressure
Herd pressure is to be judged by two things : first, its intensity, and second, its direction
achieve brief cannot clever content expected followed however living moment scientists
I cannot be content with a brief moment of riotous living followed by destitution, and however clever the scientists may be, there are some things that they cannot be expected to achieve
against avoided realists result revolt word
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.
activity appearance apply dependent discovered genius greater highest invented lesser man men progress science scientists shoulders stand supreme thousand value
In science men have discovered an activity of the very highest value in which they are no longer, as in art, dependent for progress upon the appearance of continually greater genius, for in science the successors stand upon the shoulders of their predecessors; where one man of supreme genius has invented a method, a thousand lesser men can apply it.
children credit defect fathers
The fundamental defect with fathers is that they want their children to be a credit to them.
apply arabian conception desires except house human labor mere natural purpose result rise time wish
The conception of purpose is a natural one to apply to a human artificer. A man who desires a house cannot, except in the Arabian Nights, have it rise before him as a result of his mere wish; time and labor must be expended before his wish can be gra
boyhood desire excitement experience human liked mathematics miss pleasures social suspect
The desire for excitement is very deep-seated in human beings, eI was a solitary, shy, priggish youth. I had no experience of the social pleasures of boyhood and did not miss them. But I liked mathematics, and mathematics was suspect because it has n