No nation was ever so virtuous as each believes itself, and none was ever so wicked as each believes the other. — Bertrand Russell Copy Share Image
There was, I think, never any reason to believe in any innate superiority of the male, except his superior muscle. — Bertrand Russell Copy Share Image
I do not believe that I am now dreaming, but I cannot prove that I am not. — Bertrand Russell Copy Share Image
What is wanted is not the will to believe, but the will to find out, which is the exact opposite. — 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
I believe that when I die I shall rot, and nothing of my ego will survive. — Bertrand Russell Copy Share Image
The whiter my hair becomes, the more ready people are to believe what I say. — Bertrand Russell Copy Share Image
No man who believes that all is for the best in this suffering world can keep his ethical values unimpaired, since he… — Bertrand Russell Copy Share Image
The point of philosophy is to start with something so simple as not to seem worth stating, and to end with something… — Bertrand Russell Copy Share Image
Most people believe in God because they have been taught from early infancy to do it, and that is the main reason.… — Bertrand Russell Copy Share Image
There was a law in Connecticut - I believe it is still formally unrepealed - making it illegal for a man to… — Bertrand Russell Copy Share Image
I am delighted to know that Principia Mathematica can now be done by machinery. . . I am quite willing to believe… — Bertrand Russell Copy Share Image
I think we ought always to entertain our opinions with some measure of doubt. I shouldn't wish people dogmatically to believe any… — Bertrand Russell Copy Share Image
I believe that the abolition of private ownership of land and capital is a necessary step toward any world in which the… — Bertrand Russell Copy Share Image
Mathematics is, I believe, the chief source of the belief in eternal and exact truth, as well as a sensible intelligible world. — Bertrand Russell Copy Share Image
If a man is offered a fact which goes against his instincts, he will scrutinize it closely, and unless the evidence is… — Bertrand Russell Copy Share Image
Moreover, the attitude that one ought to believe such and such a proposition, independently of the question whether there is evidence in… — Bertrand Russell Copy Share Image
I think people who are unhappy are always proud of being so, and therefore do not like to be told that there… — 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
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
I believe myself that romantic love is the source of the most intense delights that life has to offer. In the relation… — Bertrand Russell Copy Share Image
I believe that Communism is necessary to the world, and I believe that the heroism of Russia has fired men's hopes in… — Bertrand Russell Copy Share Image
A democrat need not believe that the majority will always reach a wise decision. He should however believe in the necessity of… — Bertrand Russell Copy Share Image
There is a possibility in human minds of something mysterious as the night-wind, deep as the sea, calm as the stars, and… — Bertrand Russell Copy Share Image
In the great depression, things could only be set right by causing the idle plant to work again . . . Roosevelt… — Bertrand Russell Copy Share Image
It may seem to your conceited to suppose that you can do anything important toward improving the lot of mankind. But this… — 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
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
There can't be a practical reason for believing something that is not true. — Bertrand Russell Copy Share Image
I do not myself feel that any person who is really profoundly humane can believe in everlasting punishment. — Bertrand Russell Copy Share Image
We believe, first and foremost, what makes us feel that we are fine fellows. — Bertrand Russell Copy Share Image
No man can be a good teacher unless he has feelings of warm affection toward his pupils and a genuine desire to… — Bertrand Russell Copy Share Image
The law of causality, I believe, like much that passes muster among philosophers, is a relic of a bygone age, surviving, like… — Bertrand Russell Copy Share Image
Most political leaders acquire their position by causing large numbers of people to believe that these leaders are actuated by altruistic desires — 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
Never let yourself be diverted, either by what you wish to believe, or what you think could have beneficent social effects if… — Bertrand Russell Copy Share Image
Always remember that true happiness is not in getting what you want, but wanting what you already have. He who dies with… — 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
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
