Firsts Quotes by Bertrand Russell

If we were all given by magic the power to read each other's thoughts, I suppose the first effect would be to…

— Bertrand Russell

The first effect of emancipation from the Church was not to make men think rationally, but to open their minds to every…

— Bertrand Russell

Herd pressure is to be judged by two things: first, its intensity, and second, its direction.

— Bertrand Russell

If a law were passed giving six months to every writer of a first book, only the good ones would do it.

— Bertrand Russell

In all the creative work that I have done, what has come first is a problem, a puzzle involving discomfort.

— Bertrand Russell

My first advice on how not to grow old would be to choose you ancestors carefully.

— Bertrand Russell

The first step in wisdom, as well as in morality, is to open the windows of the ego as wide as possible.

— Bertrand Russell

Even in the most purely logical realms, it is insight that first arrives at what is new.

— Bertrand Russell

The first dogma which I came to disbelieve was that of free will. It seemed to me that all notions of matter…

— Bertrand Russell

Even if the open windows of science at first make us shiver after the cozy indoor warmth of traditional humanizing myths, in…

— Bertrand Russell

Men have physical needs, and they have emotions. While physical needs are unsatisfied, they take first place; but when they are satisfied,…

— Bertrand Russell

If two hitherto rival football teams, under the influence of brotherly love, decided to co-operate in placing the football first beyond one…

— Bertrand Russell

I suggest to young professors that their first work should be written in a jargon only to be understood by the erudite…

— Bertrand Russell

Answering questions is a major part of sex education. Two rules cover the ground. First, always give a truthful answer to a…

— Bertrand Russell

I once saw a photograph of a large herd of wild elephants in Central Africa Seeing an airplane for the first time,…

— Bertrand Russell

Freedom in education has many aspects. There is first of all freedom to learn or not to learn. Then there is freedom…

— Bertrand Russell

At the age of eleven, I began Euclid, with my brother as my tutor. This was one of the great events of…

— Bertrand Russell

So far I have been speaking of theoretical science, which is an attempt to understand the world. Practical science, which is an…

— Bertrand Russell

There are some simple maxims which I think might be commended to writers of expository prose. First: never use a long word…

— Bertrand Russell

If we were all given by magic the power to read each other’s thoughts, I suppose the first effect would be almost…

— Bertrand Russell

In obedience to the feeling of reality, we shall insist that, in the analysis of propositions, nothing "unreal" is to be admitted.…

— Bertrand Russell

Philosophy arises from an unusually obstinate attempt to arrive at real knowledge. What passes for knowledge in ordinary life suffers from three…

— Bertrand Russell

Religion prevents our children from having a rational education; religion prevents us from removing the fundamental causes of war; religion prevents us…

— Bertrand Russell

At the age of eleven, I began Euclid, with my brother as my tutor. ... I had not imagined that there was…

— Bertrand Russell

We believe, first and foremost, what makes us feel that we are fine fellows.

— Bertrand Russell

The first essential character [of civilization], I should say, is forethought. This, I would say, is what distinguishes men from brutes and…

— Bertrand Russell

The first essential character [of civilization], I should say, is forethought. This, indeed, is what mainly distinguishes men from brutes and adults…

— Bertrand Russell

At first it seems obvious, but the more you think about it the stranger the deductions from this axiom seem to become;…

— Bertrand Russell

Protestants, from the first, have been distinguished from their opponents by what they do not believe; to throw over one more dogma…

— Bertrand Russell

To be happy in this world, especially when youth is past, it is necessary to feel oneself not merely an isolated individual…

— Bertrand Russell

Education, which was at first made universal in order that all might be able to read and write, has been found capable…

— Bertrand Russell

There are three ways of securing a society that shall be stable as regards population. The first is that of birth control,…

— Bertrand Russell

These illustrations suggest four general maxims[...]. The first is: remember that your motives are not always as altruistic as they seem to…

— Bertrand Russell

The first man who said "fire burns" was employing scientific method, at any rate if he had allowed himself to be burnt…

— Bertrand Russell

The opposition of instinct and reason is mainly illusory. Instinct, intuition, or insight is what first leads to the beliefs which subsequent…

— Bertrand Russell

When it was first proposed to establish laboratories at Cambridge, Todhunter, the mathematician, objected that it was unnecessary for students to see…

— Bertrand Russell

Man is a rational animal—so at least I have been told. … Aristotle, so far as I know, was the first man…

— Bertrand Russell

The first step in a fascist movement is the combination under an energetic leader of a number of men who possess more…

— Bertrand Russell

When white men first effect contact with some unspoilt race of savages, they offer them all kinds of benefits, from the light…

— Bertrand Russell

It appeared that after first contemplating a book on some subject, and after giving serious preliminary attention to it, I needed a…

— Bertrand Russell