Facts Quotes by Bertrand Russell

The degree of one's emotions varies inversely with one's knowledge of the facts.

— Bertrand Russell

Thinking you know when in fact you don't is a fatal mistake, to which we are all prone

— Bertrand Russell

Our beliefs are, however, often contrary to fact.

— Bertrand Russell

Facts have to be discovered by observation, not by reasoning

— Bertrand Russell

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

— Bertrand Russell

Most of the greatest evils that man has inflicted upon man have come through people feeling quite certain about something which, in…

— Bertrand Russell

All that passes for knowledge can be arranged in a hierarchy of degrees of certainty, with arithmetic and the facts of perception…

— Bertrand Russell

Formality Thus the absence of all mention of particular things or properties in logic or pure mathematics is a necessary result of…

— Bertrand Russell

The immense majority of intellectually eminent men disbelieve in the Christian religion, but they conceal the fact in public, because they are…

— Bertrand Russell

We all have a tendency to think that the world must conform to our prejudices. The opposite view involves some effort of…

— Bertrand Russell

Never let yourself be diverted, either by what you wish to believe, or what you think could have beneficent social effects if…

— Bertrand Russell

The Eugenic Society . . . is perpetually bewailing the fact that wage-earners breed faster than middle-class people.

— Bertrand Russell

... mathematical knowledge ... is, in fact, merely verbal knowledge. "3" means "2+1", and "4" means "3+1". Hence it follows (though the…

— Bertrand Russell

The fact that all Mathematics is Symbolic Logic is one of the greatest discoveries of our age; and when this fact has…

— Bertrand Russell

If a man is offered a fact which goes against his instincts, he will scrutinize it closely, and unless the evidence is…

— Bertrand Russell

Moreover, the attitude that one ought to believe such and such a proposition, independently of the question whether there is evidence in…

— Bertrand Russell

It is amusing to hear the modern Christian telling you how mild and rationalistic Christianity really is and ignoring the fact that…

— Bertrand Russell

The examination system, and the fact that instruction is treated mainly as a training for a livelihood, leads the young to regard…

— Bertrand Russell

The fact that an opinion has been widely held is no evidence whatever that it is not utterly absurd; indeed, in view…

— Bertrand Russell

You could take up the line that some of the gnostics took up - a line which I often thought was a…

— Bertrand Russell

In view of the fact that in any future world war nuclear weapons will certainly be employed, and that such weapons threaten…

— Bertrand Russell

If the ordinary wage-earner worked four hours a day, there would be enough for everybody and no unemployment -- assuming a certain…

— Bertrand Russell

Owing to the identification of religion with virtue, together with the fact that the most religious men are not the most intelligent,…

— Bertrand Russell

When I say that children should be told about sex, I do not mean that they should be told only the bare…

— Bertrand Russell

The fact that a belief has a good moral effect upon a man is no evidence whatsoever in favor of its truth.…

— Bertrand Russell

Almost all education has a political motive: it aims at strengthening some group, national or religious or even social, in the competition…

— Bertrand Russell

It seems to me now that mathematics is capable of an artistic excellence as great as that of any music, perhaps greater;…

— Bertrand Russell

The Christian view that all intercourse outside marriage is immoral was, as we see in the above passages from St. Paul, based…

— Bertrand Russell

The desire for legitimate offspring is, in fact, according to the Catholic Church, the only motive which can justify sexual intercourse.

— Bertrand Russell

The fact that a belief has a good moral effect upon a man is no evidence whatsoever in favor of its truth.

— Bertrand Russell

Those who forget good and evil and seek only to know the facts are more likely to achieve good than those who…

— Bertrand Russell

We have in fact, two kinds of morality, side by side: one which we preach, but do not practice, and another which…

— Bertrand Russell

Sir Arthur Eddington deduces religion from the fact that atoms do not obey the laws of mathematics. Sir James Jeans deduces it…

— Bertrand Russell

Ignore fact and reason, live entirely in the world of your own fantastic and myth-producing passions; do this whole-heartedly and with conviction,…

— Bertrand Russell

The fundamental defect of Christian ethics consists in the fact that it labels certain classes of acts 'sins' and others 'virtue' on…

— Bertrand Russell

History is valuable, to begin with, because it is true; and this, though not the whole of its value, is the foundation…

— Bertrand Russell

The question of "unreality"is a very important one. Misled by grammar, the great majority of those logicians who have dealt with this…

— Bertrand Russell

When you are studying any matter or considering any philosophy, ask yourself only: what are the facts, and what is the truth…

— Bertrand Russell

In attempting to understand the elements out of which mental phenomena are compounded, it is of the greatest importance to remember that…

— Bertrand Russell

To modern educated people, it seems obvious that matters of fact are to be ascertained by observation, not by consulting ancient authorities.…

— Bertrand Russell