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...
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.
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.
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
age certainty chief paralyzed perhaps philosophy study teach
To teach how to live without certainty, and yet without, being paralyzed by hesitation, is perhaps the chief thing that philosophy in our age can do for those who study it
admitted believe communion needs pattern purgatory scientific socrates
The Platonic Socrates was a pattern to subsequent Philosophers for many ages. As a man, we may believe him admitted to the communion of saints; but as a philosopher he needs a long residence in a scientific purgatory
care children
We must care about the world of our children and grandchildren, a world we may never see.
causes desire events food great main political
Undoubtedly the desire for food has been, and still is, one of the main causes of great political events
against foreign genuinely hate heroism impulses patriotic perhaps propaganda whom
You must not kill your neighbor, whom perhaps you genuinely hate, but by a little propaganda this hate can be transferred to some foreign nation, against whom all your murderous impulses become patriotic heroism
austen difficulty excitement expects heroine jane lasted less meet men novel throughout week women
Young men and young women meet each other with much less difficulty than was formerly the case, and every housemaid expects at least once a week as much excitement as would have lasted a Jane Austen heroine throughout a whole novel
deny logically utmost
This is a pretty fable, and I will not deny that it is logically possible, but that is the utmost that I will concede.
ancient conception derived god oriental
The whole conception of God is a conception derived from the ancient Oriental despotisms.
folly human perennial race
Folly is perennial and yet the human race has survived.
begin cease commands divine grow men mere satisfied substitute
As men begin to grow civilized, they cease to be satisfied with mere tabus, and substitute divine commands and prohibitions