Bertrand Russell
Bertrand Russell
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...
NationalityBritish
ProfessionPhilosopher
Date of Birth18 May 1872
Most people would sooner die than think; in fact, they do so.
There are two motives for reading a book; one, that you enjoy it; the other, that you can boast about it.
I think we ought always to entertain our opinions with some measure of doubt. I shouldn't wish people dogmatically to believe any philosophy, not even mine.
The secret of happiness is this: let your interests be as wide as possible, and let your reactions to the things and persons that interest you be as far as possible friendly rather than hostile.
The world is full of magical things patiently waiting for our wits to grow sharper.
To fear love is to fear life, and those who fear life are already three parts dead.
The trouble with the world is that the stupid are cocksure and the intelligent are full of doubt.
To be without some of the things you want is an indispensable part of happiness.
The time you enjoy wasting is not wasted time.
Love and knowledge, so far as they were possible, led upward toward the heavens. But always pity brought me back to earth. Echoes of cries of pain reverberate in my heart. Children in famine, victims tortured by oppressors, helpless old people a burden to their sons, and the whole world of loneliness, poverty, and pain make a mockery of what human life should be. I long to alleviate this evil, but I cannot, and I too suffer.
Fear is the main source of superstition, and one of the main sources of cruelty. To conquer fear is the beginning of wisdom.
The average man's opinions are much less foolish than they would be if he thought for himself.
Happiness is not best achieved by those who seek it directly.
Unless a man has been taught what to do with success after getting it, the achievement of it must inevitably leave him a prey to boredom.