War Quotes by Bertrand Russell

“Prudence versus passion is a conflict that runs through history.”

— Bertrand Russell

Power is sweet; it is a drug, the desire for which increases with a habit.

— Bertrand Russell

People who are vigorous and brutal often find war enjoyable.

— Bertrand Russell

War doesn't determine who's right, it determines who's left

— Bertrand Russell

War can only be abolished by the establishment of a world government.

— Bertrand Russell

War...seems a mere madness, a collective insanity.

— Bertrand Russell

War grows out of ordinary human nature.

— Bertrand Russell

Either man will abolish war, or war will abolish man.

— Bertrand Russell

To discover a system for the avoidance of war is a vital need of our civilisation.

— Bertrand Russell

No Carthaginian denied Moloch, because to do so would have required more courage that was required to face death in battle.

— Bertrand Russell

Of all evils of war the greatest is the purely spiritual evil: the hatred, the injustice, the repudiation of truth, the artificial…

— Bertrand Russell

Life seems to me essentially passion, conflict, rage. It is only intellect that keeps me sane; perhaps this makes me overvalue intellect…

— Bertrand Russell

“If wars are eliminated and production is organized scientifically, it is probable that four hours' work a day will suffice to keep…

— Bertrand Russell

With civilized men..., it is, I think, chiefly love of excitement which makes the populace applaud when war breaks out; the emotion…

— Bertrand Russell

Science seems to be at war with itself… Naive realism leads to physics, and physics, if true, shows naive realism tobe false.…

— Bertrand Russell

One must expect a war between U.S.A. and U.S.S.R. which will begin with the total destruction of London. I think the war…

— Bertrand Russell

The best authorities are unanimous in saying that a war with H-bombs might possibly put an end to the human race. It…

— Bertrand Russell

There have been poverty, pestilence, and famine, which were due to man's inadequate mastery of nature. There have been wars, oppressions and…

— Bertrand Russell

I read Zuleika Dobson with pleasure. It represents the Oxford that the two World Wars have destroyed with a charm that is…

— Bertrand Russell

When two great powers disagree about anything - it doesn't matter what - they must find a way to settle it somehow…

— Bertrand Russell

It would have been very much better for the world if Britain had remained neutral and the Germans had won a quick…

— Bertrand Russell

Against the vast majority of my countrymen, even at this moment, in the name of humanity and civilization, I protest against our…

— 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

And all this madness, all this rage, all this flaming death of our civilization and our hopes, has been brought about because…

— Bertrand Russell

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

“During the war, the holders of power in all countries found it necessary to bribe the populations into cooperation by unusual concessions.…

— Bertrand Russell

The criminal law has, from the point of view of thwarted virtue, the merit of allowing an outlet for those impulses of…

— Bertrand Russell

One must expect a war between U.S.A. and U.S.S.R. which will begin with the total destruction of London. I think the war…

— Bertrand Russell

One of the commonest things to do with savings is to lend them to some Government. In view of the fact that…

— Bertrand Russell

Those who in principle oppose birth control are either incapable of arithmetic or else in favour of war, pestilence and famine as…

— Bertrand Russell

“I think that, if we are to feel at home in the world after the present war, we shall have to admit…

— Bertrand Russell

Before World War I one of the objections commonly urged against votes for women was that women would tend to be pacifists.…

— Bertrand Russell

It is entirely clear that there is only one way in which great wars can be permanently prevented, and that is the…

— Bertrand Russell

At all times, except when a monarch could enforce his will, war has been facilitated by the fact that vigorous males, confident…

— Bertrand Russell

The three main extra-rational activities in modern life are religion, war, and love. all these are extra-rational, but love is not anti-rational,…

— Bertrand Russell

It would now be technically possible to unify the world, abolish war and poverty altogether, if men desired their own happiness more…

— 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

“To discover a system for the avoidance of war is a vital need for our civ ilisation; but no such system has…

— Bertrand Russell

“In the Second World War he took no public part, having escaped to a neutral country just before its outbreak. In private…

— 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