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
The scientific attitude of mind involves a sweeping away of all other desires in the interest of the desire to know.
What the world needs is not dogma but an attitude of scientific inquiry combined with a belief that the torture of millions is not desirable, whether inflicted by Stalin or by a Deity imagined in the likeness of the believer
Socrates was the chief saint of the Stoics throughout their history ; his attitude at the time of his trial, his refusal to escape, his calmness in the face of death , and his contention that the perpetrator of injustice injures himself more than his victim, all fitted in perfectly with Stoic teaching. So did his indifference to heat and cold, his plainness in matters of food and dress, and his complete independence of all bodily comforts.
What the world needs is not dogma but an attitude of scientific inquiry.
Moreover, the attitude that one ought to believe such and such a proposition, independently of the question whether there is evidence in its favor, is an attitude which produces hostility to evidence and causes us to close our minds to every fact that does not suit our prejudices.
I consider the official Catholic attitude on divorce, birth control, and censorship exceedingly dangerous to mankind.
The taboo against nakedness is an obstacle to a decent attitude on the subject of sex.
To save the world requires faith and courage: faith in reason, and courage to proclaim what reason shows to be true
Many people would sooner die than think; in fact, they do so.
The man who can centre his thoughts and hopes upon something transcending self can find a certain peace in the ordinary troubles of life, which is impossible to the pure egoist.
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.
What is wanted is not the will to believe, but the wish to find out, which is its exact opposite.
Boredom is a vital problem for the moralist, since at least half the sins of mankind are caused by the fear of it.
We have in fact, two kinds of morality, side by side: one that we preach, but do not practice, and another that we practice, but seldom preach.