Every man, wherever he goes, is encompassed by a cloud of comforting convictions, which move with him like flies on a summer… — Bertrand Russell Copy Share Image
Man is a feeble creature, to whom only submission and worship are besoming. Pride is insolence, and belief in human power is… — Bertrand Russell Copy Share Image
All knowledge, we feel, must be built up upon our instinctive beliefs; and if these are rejected, nothing is left. — Bertrand Russell Copy Share Image
Religion may in most of its forms be defined as the belief that the gods are on the side of the government. — Bertrand Russell Copy Share Image
Education ought to foster the wish for truth, not the conviction that some particular creed is the truth. — Bertrand Russell Copy Share Image
One of the symptoms of an approaching nervous breakdown is the belief that ones work is terribly important. — Bertrand Russell Copy Share Image
RELIGION: A set of beliefs held as dogmas, dominating the conduct of life, going beyond or contrary to evidence, and inculcated by… — Bertrand Russell Copy Share Image
As soon as it is held that any belief, no matter what, is important for some other reason than that it is… — Bertrand Russell Copy Share Image
There are certain things that our age needs, and certain things that it should avoid. It needs compassion and a wish that… — Bertrand Russell Copy Share Image
The opinions that are held with passion are always those for which no good ground exists; indeed the passion is the measure… — Bertrand Russell Copy Share Image
“The causes of any widespread scepticism are likely to be sociological rather than intellectual. The main cause is always comfort without power.… — Bertrand Russell Copy Share Image
A habit of basing convictions upon evidence, and of giving to them only that degree or certainty which the evidence warrants, would,… — Bertrand Russell Copy Share Image
Of these austerer virtues the love of truth is the chief, and in mathematics, more than elsewhere, the love of truth may… — Bertrand Russell Copy Share Image
I want to say, in all seriousness, that a great deal of harm is being done in the modern world by belief… — Bertrand Russell Copy Share Image
“The belief in a happy "state of nature" in the remote past is derived partly from the biblical narrative of the age… — Bertrand Russell Copy Share Image
“A man votes for one party and remains miserable; he concludes that it was the other party that would bring the millennium.… — Bertrand Russell Copy Share Image
“Ever since puberty I have believed in the value of two things: kindness and clear thinking. At first these two remained more… — Bertrand Russell Copy Share Image
If you think your belief is based upon reason, you will support it by argument rather than by persecution, and will abandon… — Bertrand Russell Copy Share Image
What makes a free thinker is not his beliefs, but the way in which he holds them. If he holds them because… — Bertrand Russell Copy Share Image
“William James used to preach the “will to believe.” For my part, I should wish to preach the “will to doubt.” None… — Bertrand Russell Copy Share Image
People are said to believe in God, or to disbelieve in Adam and Eve. But in such cases what is believed or… — Bertrand Russell Copy Share Image
You find this curious fact, that the more intense has been the religion of any period and more profound has been the… — Bertrand Russell Copy Share Image
“The battle must be fought exactly as the battle of religious toleration was fought. And as in that case, so in this,… — Bertrand Russell Copy Share Image
Science tells us what we can know but what we can know is little and if we forget how much we cannot… — Bertrand Russell Copy Share Image
Cruel men believe in a cruel god and use their belief to excuse their cruelty. Only kindly men believe in a kindly… — Bertrand Russell Copy Share Image
The qualities most needed are charity and tolerance, not some form of fanatical faith such as is offered to us by the… — Bertrand Russell Copy Share Image
Man is a credulous animal, and must believe something; in the absence of good grounds for belief, he will be satisfied with… — Bertrand Russell Copy Share Image
The reformative effect of punishment is a belief that dies hard, chiefly I think, because it is so satisfying to our sadistic… — Bertrand Russell Copy Share Image
“All knowledge, we find, must be built up upon our instinctive beliefs, and if these are rejected, nothing is left.” — Bertrand Russell Copy Share Image
The fact that a belief has a good moral effect upon a man is no evidence whatsoever in favor of its truth. — Bertrand Russell Copy Share Image
Throughout the long period of religious doubt, I had been rendered very unhappy by the gradual loss of belief, but when the… — Bertrand Russell Copy Share Image
More and more people are becoming unable to accept traditional [religious] beliefs. If they think that, apart from these beliefs, there is… — Bertrand Russell Copy Share Image
William James used to preach the "will-to-believe." For my part, I should wish to preach the "will-to-doubt." None of our beliefs are… — Bertrand Russell Copy Share Image
The fact that an opinion has been widely held is no evidence whatever that it is not utterly absurd; indeed, in view… — Bertrand Russell Copy Share Image
Diet, injections, and injunctions will combine, from a very early age, to produce the sort of character and the sort of beliefs… — Bertrand Russell Copy Share Image
“The methods of increasing the degree of truth in our beliefs are well known; they consist in hearing all sides, trying to… — Bertrand Russell Copy Share Image
“To begin with rationality in opinion: I should define it merely as the habit of taking account of all relevant evidence in… — Bertrand Russell Copy Share Image
But if thought is to become the possession of many, not the privilege of the few, we must have done with fear.… — Bertrand Russell Copy Share Image
“The mind of the most rational among us may be compared to a stormy ocean of passionate convictions based on desire, upon… — Bertrand Russell Copy Share Image
“at first sight it might be thought that knowledge might be defined as belief which is in agreement with the facts. The… — Bertrand Russell Copy Share Image
If the State does not acquire supremacy over [vast private] enterprises, it becomes their puppet, and they become the real State. — Bertrand Russell Copy Share
That the world is in a bad shape is undeniable, but there is not the faintest reason in history to suppose that Christianity offers… — Bertrand Russell Copy Share
Those who advocate common usage in philosophy sometimes speak in a manner that suggests the mystique of the 'common man.' — Bertrand Russell Copy Share
“Such, in outline, but even more purposeless, more void of meaning, is the world which Science presents for our belief. Amid such a world,… — Bertrand Russell Copy Share
Dr. Arnold . . . the admired reformer of public schools, came across some cranks who thought it a mistake to flog boys. Anyone… — Bertrand Russell Copy Share
Of all evils of war the greatest is the purely spiritual evil: the hatred, the injustice, the repudiation of truth, the artificial conflict. — Bertrand Russell Copy Share
Aristotle maintained that women have fewer teeth than men; although he was twice married, it never occurred to him to verify this statement by… — Bertrand Russell Copy Share
If an opinion contrary to your own makes you angry, that is a sign that you are subconsciously aware of having no good reason… — Bertrand Russell Copy Share
I cannot escape from the conclusion that the great ages of progress have depended upon a small number of individuals of transcendent ability. — Bertrand Russell Copy Share
I think it would be just to say the most essential characteristic of mind is memory, using this word in its broadest sense to… — Bertrand Russell Copy Share
The newspapers at one time said that I was dead but after carefully examining the evidence I came to the conclusion that this statement… — Bertrand Russell Copy Share
“Persecution is used in theology, not in arithmetic, because in arithmetic there is knowledge, but in theology there is only opinion.” — Bertrand Russell Copy Share
“Many orthodox people speak as though it were the business of sceptics to disprove received dogmas rather than of dogmatists to prove them. This… — Bertrand Russell Copy Share
There is no greater reason for children to honour parents than for parents to honour children except, that while the children are young, the… — Bertrand Russell Copy Share
![“More and more people are becoming unable to accept traditional [religious] beliefs. If they think that, apart from these beliefs, there is no reason for kindly behaviour, the results may be needlessly unfortunate. That is why it is important to show that no supernatural reasons are needed to make…” quote by Bertrand Russell](https://sms4smile.com/q/img-quotes/e97/bertrand-russell-69_accepting_more-and-more-people-are-becoming-unable_1214762.jpg)
