Even in the most purely logical realms, it is insight that first arrives at what is new. — Bertrand Russell Copy Share Image
Man is a rational animal—so at least I have been told. … Aristotle, so far as I know, was the first man… — Bertrand Russell Copy Share Image
The first essential character [of civilization], I should say, is forethought. This, indeed, is what mainly distinguishes men from brutes and adults… — Bertrand Russell Copy Share Image
In the first place a philosophical proposition must be general. It must not deal specially with things on the surface of the… — Bertrand Russell Copy Share Image
When white men first effect contact with some unspoilt race of savages, they offer them all kinds of benefits, from the light… — Bertrand Russell Copy Share Image
My first advice on how not to grow old would be to choose you ancestors carefully. — Bertrand Russell Copy Share Image
Men have physical needs, and they have emotions. While physical needs are unsatisfied, they take first place; but when they are satisfied,… — Bertrand Russell Copy Share Image
Even if the open windows of science at first make us shiver after the cozy indoor warmth of traditional humanizing myths, in… — Bertrand Russell Copy Share Image
In all the creative work that I have done, what has come first is a problem, a puzzle involving discomfort. — Bertrand Russell Copy Share Image
We believe, first and foremost, what makes us feel that we are fine fellows. — Bertrand Russell Copy Share Image
In obedience to the feeling of reality, we shall insist that, in the analysis of propositions, nothing "unreal" is to be admitted.… — Bertrand Russell Copy Share Image
There are some simple maxims which I think might be commended to writers of expository prose. First: never use a long word… — 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
The first step in a fascist movement is the combination under an energetic leader of a number of men who possess more… — Bertrand Russell Copy Share Image
If a law were passed giving six months to every writer of a first book, only the good ones would do it. — Bertrand Russell Copy Share Image
Education, which was at first made universal in order that all might be able to read and write, has been found capable… — Bertrand Russell Copy Share Image
At the age of eleven, I began Euclid, with my brother as my tutor. This was one of the great events of… — Bertrand Russell Copy Share Image
The first essential character [of civilization], I should say, is forethought. This, I would say, is what distinguishes men from brutes and… — Bertrand Russell Copy Share Image
So far I have been speaking of theoretical science, which is an attempt to understand the world. Practical science, which is an… — Bertrand Russell Copy Share Image
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 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
When it was first proposed to establish laboratories at Cambridge, Todhunter, the mathematician, objected that it was unnecessary for students to see… — Bertrand Russell Copy Share Image
To be happy in this world, especially when youth is past, it is necessary to feel oneself not merely an isolated individual… — Bertrand Russell Copy Share Image
The first man who said "fire burns" was employing scientific method, at any rate if he had allowed himself to be burnt… — Bertrand Russell Copy Share Image
Protestants, from the first, have been distinguished from their opponents by what they do not believe; to throw over one more dogma… — Bertrand Russell Copy Share Image
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 Copy Share Image
There are three ways of securing a society that shall be stable as regards population. The first is that of birth control,… — Bertrand Russell Copy Share Image
Herd pressure is to be judged by two things: first, its intensity, and second, its direction. — Bertrand Russell Copy Share Image
I once saw a photograph of a large herd of wild elephants in Central Africa Seeing an airplane for the first time,… — Bertrand Russell Copy Share Image
The first effect of emancipation from the Church was not to make men think rationally, but to open their minds to every… — Bertrand Russell Copy Share Image
Philosophy arises from an unusually obstinate attempt to arrive at real knowledge. What passes for knowledge in ordinary life suffers from three… — Bertrand Russell Copy Share Image
At the age of eleven, I began Euclid, with my brother as my tutor. ... I had not imagined that there was… — Bertrand Russell Copy Share Image
The first dogma which I came to disbelieve was that of free will. It seemed to me that all notions of matter… — Bertrand Russell Copy Share Image
I suggest to young professors that their first work should be written in a jargon only to be understood by the erudite… — Bertrand Russell Copy Share Image
Answering questions is a major part of sex education. Two rules cover the ground. First, always give a truthful answer to a… — 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
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 Copy Share Image
It appeared that after first contemplating a book on some subject, and after giving serious preliminary attention to it, I needed a… — Bertrand Russell Copy Share Image
Freedom in education has many aspects. There is first of all freedom to learn or not to learn. Then there is freedom… — Bertrand Russell Copy Share Image
At first it seems obvious, but the more you think about it the stranger the deductions from this axiom seem to become;… — 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