Bertrand Russell quotes

“To fear love is to fear life, and those who fear life are already three parts dead.”

— Bertrand Russell

“The good life is one inspired by love and guided by knowledge.”

— Bertrand Russell

“The time you enjoy wasting is not wasted time.”

— Bertrand Russell

“War does not determine who is right - only who is left.”

— Bertrand Russell

“The trouble with the world is that the stupid are cocksure and the intelligent are full of doubt.”

— Bertrand Russell

“The whole problem with the world is that fools and fanatics are always so certain of themselves, and wiser people so full of doubts.”

— Bertrand Russell

“I would never die for my beliefs because I might be wrong.”

— Bertrand Russell

“Three passions, simple but overwhelmingly strong, have governed my life: the longing for love, the search for knowledge, and unbearable pity for the suffering of mankind.”

— Bertrand Russell

“Love is something far more than desire for sexual intercourse; it is the principal means of escape from the loneliness which afflicts most men and women throughout the greater part of their lives.”

— Bertrand Russell

“To be without some of the things you want is an indispensable part of happiness.”

— Bertrand Russell

“One should respect public opinion insofar as is necessary to avoid starvation and keep out of prison, but anything that goes beyond this is voluntary submission to an unnecessary tyranny.”

— Bertrand Russell

“Advocates of capitalism are very apt to appeal to the sacred principles of liberty, which are embodied in one maxim: The fortunate must not be restrained in the exercise of tyranny over the unfortunate.”

— Bertrand Russell

“The world is full of magical things patiently waiting for our wits to grow sharper.”

— Bertrand Russell

“Men are born ignorant, not stupid. They are made stupid by education.”

— Bertrand Russell

“Democracy is the process by which people choose the man who'll get the blame.”

— Bertrand Russell

“The fact that an opinion has been widely held is no evidence whatever that it is not utterly absurd.”

— Bertrand Russell

“I believe in using words, not fists. I believe in my outrage knowing people are living in boxes on the street. I believe in honesty. I believe in a good time. I believe in good food. I believe in sex.”

— Bertrand Russell

“Dogmatism and skepticism are both, in a sense, absolute philosophies; one is certain of knowing, the other of not knowing. What philosophy should dissipate is certainty, whether of knowledge or ignorance.”

— Bertrand Russell

“There is much pleasure to be gained from useless knowledge.”

— Bertrand Russell

“The megalomaniac differs from the narcissist by the fact that he wishes to be powerful rather than charming, and seeks to be feared rather than loved. To this type belong many lunatics and most of the great men of history.”

— Bertrand Russell

“In America everybody is of the opinion that he has no social superiors, since all men are equal, but he does not admit that he has no social inferiors, for, from the time of Jefferson onward, the doctrine that all men are equal applies only upwards, not downwards.”

— Bertrand Russell

“Anything you're good at contributes to happiness.”

— Bertrand Russell

“To conquer fear is the beginning of wisdom.”

— Bertrand Russell

“Marriage is for women the commonest mode of livelihood, and the total amount of undesired sex endured by women is probably greater in marriage than in prostitution.”

— Bertrand Russell

“Work is of two kinds: first, altering the position of matter at or near the earth's surface relative to other matter; second, telling other people to do so.”

— Bertrand Russell

“Boredom is... a vital problem for the moralist, since half the sins of mankind are caused by the fear of it.”

— Bertrand Russell

“Conventional people are roused to fury by departure from convention, largely because they regard such departure as a criticism of themselves.”

— Bertrand Russell

“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.”

— Bertrand Russell

“The secret to happiness is to face the fact that the world is horrible.”

— Bertrand Russell

“Fear is the main source of superstition, and one of the main sources of cruelty. To conquer fear is the beginning of wisdom.”

— Bertrand Russell