There's a Bible on that shelf there. But I keep it next to Voltaire - poison and antidote. — Bertrand Russell Copy Share Image
I am as firmly convinced that religions do harm as I am that they are untrue. — Bertrand Russell Copy Share Image
Unless you assume a God, the question of life's purpose is meaningless. — Bertrand Russell Copy Share Image
[There has been] every kind of cruelty practiced upon all sorts of people in the name of religion. — Bertrand Russell Copy Share Image
Fear is the parent of cruelty, and therefore it is no wonder if cruelty and religion go hand in hand. — Bertrand Russell Copy Share Image
Every living thing is a sort of imperialist, seeking to transform as much as possible of its environment into itself. — 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
My own view on religion is that of Lucretius. I regard it as a disease born of fear and as a source… — Bertrand Russell Copy Share Image
[Kant] was like many people: in intellectual matters he was skeptical, but in moral matters he believed imjplicitly in the maximx that… — Bertrand Russell Copy Share Image
And if there were a God, I think it very unlikely that He would have such an uneasy vanity as to be… — Bertrand Russell Copy Share Image
Historically, it is quite doubtful whether Christ ever existed at all, and if He did we do not know anything about Him. — Bertrand Russell Copy Share Image
[Regarding] the convention that clergymen are more virtuous than other men. Any average selection of mankind, set apart and told that it… — Bertrand Russell Copy Share Image
It is permissible with certain precautions to speak in print of coitus, but it is not permissible to employ the monosyllabic synonym… — Bertrand Russell Copy Share Image
“It is possible that mankind is on the threshold of a golden age; but, if so,it will be necessary first to slay… — Bertrand Russell Copy Share Image
Religion prevents our children from having a rational education; religion prevents us from removing the fundamental causes of war; religion prevents us… — Bertrand Russell Copy Share Image
I wish to propose for the reader's favourable consideration a doctrine which may, I fear, appear wildly paradoxical and subversive. The doctrine… — Bertrand Russell Copy Share Image
I believe that when I die I shall rot, and nothing of my ego will survive. I am not young, and I… — Bertrand Russell Copy Share Image
It is no credit to the orthodox that they do not now believe all the absurdities that were believed 150 years ago.… — Bertrand Russell Copy Share Image
Religion is based ... mainly upon fear ... fear of the mysterious, fear of defeat, fear of death. Fear is the parent… — 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
There is no logical impossibility in the hypothesis that the world sprang into being five minutes ago, exactly as it then was,… — Bertrand Russell Copy Share Image
There is something feeble, and a little contemptible, about a man who cannot face the perils of life without the help of… — Bertrand Russell Copy Share Image
The knowledge exists by which universal happiness can be secured; the chief obstacle to its utilization for that purpose is the teaching… — Bertrand Russell Copy Share Image
As a philosopher, if I were speaking to a purely philosophic audience I should say that I ought to describe myself as… — Bertrand Russell Copy Share Image
The Christian view that all intercourse outside marriage is immoral was, as we see in the above passages from St. Paul, based… — Bertrand Russell Copy Share Image
An atheist, like a Christian, holds that we can know whether or not there is a God. The Christian holds that we… — Bertrand Russell Copy Share Image
I am myself a dissenter from all known religions, and I hope that every kind of religious belief will die out. — Bertrand Russell Copy Share Image
It is undesirable to believe a proposition when there is no ground whatever for supposing it true — Bertrand Russell Copy Share Image
When there are rational grounds for an opinion, people are content to set them forth and wait for them to operate. In… — Bertrand Russell Copy Share Image
We may define "faith" as the firm belief in something for which there is no evidence. Where there is evidence, no one… — 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 Image
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 Image
Those who advocate common usage in philosophy sometimes speak in a manner that suggests the mystique of the 'common man.' — Bertrand Russell Copy Share Image
“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 Image
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 Image
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 Image
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 Image
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 Image
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 Image
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 Image
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 Image
![“[There has been] every kind of cruelty practiced upon all sorts of people in the name of religion.” quote by Bertrand Russell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/img-quotes/e24/bertrand-russell-69_atheism_there-has-been-every-kind-of-cruelty-pra_3230973.jpg)
![“[Kant] was like many people: in intellectual matters he was skeptical, but in moral matters he believed imjplicitly in the maximx that he had imbibed at his mother's knee.” quote by Bertrand Russell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/img-quotes/051/bertrand-russell-69_atheism_kant-was-like-many-people-in-intellectua_3230876.jpg)
![“[Regarding] the convention that clergymen are more virtuous than other men. Any average selection of mankind, set apart and told that it excels the rest in virtue, must tend to sink below the average.” quote by Bertrand Russell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/img-quotes/e78/bertrand-russell-69_atheism_regarding-the-convention-that-clergymen_570434.jpg)
![“If the State does not acquire supremacy over [vast private] enterprises, it becomes their puppet, and they become the real State.” quote by Bertrand Russell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/img-quotes/bad/bertrand-russell-69_acquire_if-the-state-does-not-acquire-supremacy_1379.jpg)
