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
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: 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
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
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
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
“My desire and wish is that the things I start with should be so obvious that you wonder why I spend my… — Bertrand Russell Copy Share Image
The man who is unhappy will, as a rule, adopt an unhappy creed, while the man who is happy will adopt a… — Bertrand Russell Copy Share Image
I think that there is far too much work done in the world, that immense harm is caused by the belief that… — Bertrand Russell Copy Share Image
I observe that a very large portion of the human race does not believe in God and suffers no visible punishment in… — Bertrand Russell Copy Share Image
It is not what the man of science believes that distinguishes him, but how and why he believes it. His beliefs are… — Bertrand Russell Copy Share Image
Dogma demands authority, rather than intelligent thought, as the source of opinion; it requires persecution of heretics and hostility to unbelievers; it… — Bertrand Russell Copy Share Image
One of the symptoms of approaching nervous breakdown is the belief that one's work is terribly important, and that to take a… — Bertrand Russell Copy Share Image
Man is the product of causes which had no prevision of the end they were achieving; his origin, his growth, his hopes… — Bertrand Russell Copy Share Image
Man has existed for about a million years. He has possessed writing for about 6,000 years, agriculture somewhat longer, but perhaps not… — Bertrand Russell Copy Share Image
Americans and Englishmen, when they become acquainted with the Balkans, feel an astonished contempt when they study the mutual enmities of Bulgarians… — Bertrand Russell Copy Share Image
The opposition of instinct and reason is mainly illusory. Instinct, intuition, or insight is what first leads to the beliefs which subsequent… — Bertrand Russell Copy Share Image
The scientific attitude of mind involves a sweeping away of all other desires in the interests of the desire to know-it involves… — 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
...I am afraid that education is conceived more in terms of indoctrination by most school officials than in terms of enlightenment. My… — 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
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
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
“William James used to preach the 'will to believe.' For my part, I should wish to preach the 'will to doubt' ...… — 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
“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 Image
“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 Image
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 Image
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