Bertrand Russel
Bertrand Russel
Bertrand Arthur William Russell, 3rd Earl Russell, OM, FRSwas a British philosopher, logician, mathematician, historian, writer, social critic, political activist and Nobel laureate. At various points in his life he considered himself a liberal, a socialist, and a pacifist, but he also admitted that he had "never been any of these things, in any profound sense". He was born in Monmouthshire into one of the most prominent aristocratic families in the United Kingdom...
accept acting affords against believes desires evidence explained fact goes himself man myths offered origin reason refuse slightest unless
What a man believes upon grossly insufficient evidence is an index into his desires -- desires of which he himself is often unconscious. If a man is offered a fact which goes against his instincts, he will scrutinize it closely, and unless the evidence is overwhelming, he will refuse to believe it. If, on the other hand, he is offered something which affords a reason for acting in accordance to his instincts, he will accept it even on the slightest evidence. The origin of myths is explained in this way.
average intelligence less man moralist
The professional moralist in our day is a man of less than average intelligence
forged honest
There are no better friends than those forged through honest and often heated argument.
belief feeble human man power pride submission whom worship
Man is a feeble creature, to whom only submission and worship are besoming. Pride is insolence, and belief in human power is impiety
concerned fuss life obscure personally phenomenon sort transitory
Life is a brief, small, and transitory phenomenon in an obscure corner, not at all the sort of thing that one would make a fuss about if one were not personally concerned
action adequate cannot creed majority nonsense vast
There is no nonsense so arrant that it cannot be made the creed of the vast majority by adequate governmental action
bizarre happen history prevent professors realizing
The professors must not prevent us from realizing that history is fun, and that the most bizarre things really happen