Russell, Bertrand

"Whoever wishes to become a philosopher must learn not to be frightened by absurdities."

"The true spirit of delight, the exaltation, the sense of being more than Man, is the touchstone of the highest excellence."

"Obscenity is whatever happens to shock some elderly and ignorant magistrate."

"What is wanted is not the will to believe, but the desire to find, which is the exact opposite."

"It may be that at the Day of Judgment the Almighty will ask me, not whether I have been successful, but whether I have been ambitious."

"One should respect public opinion in so far as is necessary to avoid starvation and imprisonment, but not further."

"The infliction of cruelty ceases to be thought of as wrong when it is called religious discipline."

"The value of philosophy is, in fact, to be sought largely in its very uncertainty. The man who has no tincture of philosophy goes through life imprisoned in the prejudices derived from common sense."

"As a rule, it is the people who are no use at all who are most in favor of the death penalty."

"Man is a rational animal—so at least I have been told. Throughout a long life, I have looked diligently for evidence in favor of this statement, but so far I have not had the good fortune to come across it."

"Envy is the basis of democracy."

"Mathematics may be defined as the subject in which we never know what we are talking about, nor whether what we are saying is true."

"The only thing that will redeem mankind is cooperation, and the only way to achieve it is through religion."

"The degree of one's emotions varies inversely with one's knowledge of the facts—the less you know the hotter you get."

"Do you realize that it is poor civic virtue to be indifferent to public affairs?"

"The man who can center his thoughts and hopes upon something transcending self can find a certain peace in a self-denying but harmonious life."

"The first lesson a philosopher must learn is to question the obvious."

"Freedom, in any adequate sense, demands open-mindedness and the courage to think for oneself."

"Do not fear to be thought radical; the whole tendency of modern thought tends to show that the future belongs to those who are sufficiently adventurous."

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

"Pleasure may be divided into two kinds: intellectual and sensual; and the former are always the most refined and valuable."

"One of the drawbacks of a social conscience is that the rare moments of individual happiness become a source of guilty distress."

"War does not determine who is right—only who is left."

"I wanted certainty in the kind of way that people want religious faith."

"We are all inclined to judge people by their outward appearance, but true worth lies in character."

"The psychology of the average man leans towards the side of the supernatural because it offers an escape from the materialistic aspects of everyday life."

"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 terrible to realize that we are perpetually being called upon to make ethical decisions without adequate information about what the results will be."

"Do not feel absolutely certain of anything, for certain knowledge is reserved for the gods and the dead."

"The arrogance of age must submit to be instructed by youth; for the contempt of the young is a symptom of vigor, not of folly."