Quotes by Bertrand Russell

About Bertrand Russell:

Bertrand Arthur William Russell, 3rd Earl Russell was a British philosopher, logician, mathematician, historian, writer, social critic and political activist. 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 in any profound sense. He was born in Monmouthshire into one of the most prominent aristocratic families in Britain.
A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z

To acquire immunity to eloquence is of the utmost importance to the citizens of a democracy.

Bertrand Russell

The observer, when he seems to himself to be observing a stone, is really, if physics is to be believed, observing the effects of the stone upon himself.

Bertrand Russell

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

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

In all affairs it's a healthy thing now and then to hang a question mark on the things you have long taken for granted.

Bertrand Russell

It is preoccupation with possessions, more than anything else, that prevents us from living freely and nobly.

Bertrand Russell

Why is propaganda so much more successful when it stirs up hatred than when it tries to stir up friendly feeling?

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

Many people would sooner die than think; in fact, they do so.

Bertrand Russell

What is wanted is not the will to believe, but the will to find out, which is the exact opposite.

Bertrand Russell

I remain convinced that obstinate addiction to ordinary language in our private thoughts is one of the main obstacles to progress in philosophy.

Bertrand Russell

Order, unity, and continuity are human inventions, just as truly as catalogues and encyclopedias.

Bertrand Russell

Mathematics takes us into the region of absolute necessity, to which not only the actual word, but every possible word, must conform.

Bertrand Russell

The universe may have a purpose, but nothing we know suggests that, if so, this purpose has any similarity to ours.

Bertrand Russell

The coward wretch whose hand and heart Can bear to torture aught below, Is ever first to quail and start From the slightest pain or equal foe.

Bertrand Russell

It seems to be the fate of idealists to obtain what they have struggled for in a form which destroys their ideals.

Bertrand Russell

Obscenity is whatever happens to shock some elderly and ignorant magistrate.

Bertrand Russell

Liberty is the right to do what I like; license, the right to do what you like.

Bertrand Russell

Awareness of universals is called conceiving, and a universal of which we are aware is called a concept.

Bertrand Russell

Indignation is a submission of our thoughts, but not of our desires.

Bertrand Russell

Right discipline consists, not in external compulsion, but in the habits of mind which lead spontaneously to desirable rather than undesirable activities.

Bertrand Russell

Author Bio

  • NameBertrand Russell
  • Descriptionlogician and one of the first analytic philosophers
  • AliasesBertrand Arthur William Russell
  • BornMay 18, 1872
  • DiedFebruary 2, 1970
  • CountryUnited Kingdom
  • ProfessionMathematician; Social Critic; Essayist; Logician; Epistemologist; Philosopher Of Language; Political Activist; Metaphysician; Analytic Philosopher; Autobiographer; Writer
  • AwardsNobel Prize In Literature; Fellow Of The Royal Society; ; Kalinga Prize