Bertrand Russell

"The most damaging criticism of religion comes, however, not from the reasoner but from the honest man."

"Broadly speaking, all the useful and agreeable things that men do or produce are done from unkind motives."

"Pain is often the byproduct of growth and the currency of wisdom."

"True freedom requires the courage to face one's own thoughts."

"The human heart finds nowhere a resting place but in God."

"The only reason for the existence of a novel is that it does attempt to represent life."

"A sense of proportion is a sense of humor."

"Imagination is the beginning of creation."

"I am tempted to say that the main objection to religion is that it makes claims to knowledge about matters of which nobody has any knowledge."

"The attempt to force belief is the greatest possible evil from an intellectual standpoint."

"In the welter of conflicting claims, a man must believe in something."

"That is what all the serving-men and all the noble ladies never knew; but I know that you are the bravest person alive."

"The wish to preserve the past rather than the hope of creating the future dominates the minds of those who look backward."

"You feel pity is very much what makes people willing to accept injustice."

"The good man is not responsible for the actions of the bad man."

"The intellect is small compared to the vastness of what we don't know."

"All religions assert that the world is ruled by divine purposes which are on the whole benevolent."

"It is only in the realm of fiction that we can find truths that reality seems to deny."

"The universe may have a purpose, but nothing we know suggests that it is any purpose of ours."

"I believe in using words to convey meaning, not to conceal it."

"An individual human existence should be like a river—small at first, narrowly contained within its banks, and rushing passionately past boulders and over waterfalls."

"One should never be surprised by either the stupidity or the integrity of ordinary people."

"The attempt to force belief is the greatest possible evil."

"We are all prone to the belief that the universe must conform to our comfort."

"The demand for certainty is one which is natural to man, but is nevertheless an intellectual vice."

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

"Do not fear to be eccentric in opinion, for every opinion now accepted was once eccentric."

"The good life, as I conceive it, is a happy life. I do not mean that if you are good you will be happy."

"Science is what you know when you stop believing."

"Envy is the basis of democracy."