Bertrand Russell
(1872-1970)

British Philosopher, Historian, Social Reformer, Pacifist

birthdate: May 18
birthplace:
Ravenscroft, Trelleck, Monmouthshire, Wales

QUOTES

If there were in the world today any large number of people who desired their own happiness more than they desired the unhappiness of others, we could have paradise in a few years.

Patriotism is the willingness to kill and be killed for trivial reasons.

The good life, as I conceive it, is a happy life. I do not mean that if you are good you will be happy - I mean that if you are happy you will be good.

The greatest challenge to any thinker is stating the problem in a way that will allow a solution.

The most savage controversies are those about matters as to which there is no good evidence either way.

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

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

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

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.

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

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

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.

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

War... seems a mere madness, a collective insanity.

This idea of weapons of mass extermination is utterly horrible and is something which no one with one spark of humanity can tolerate.

Collective fear stimulates herd instinct, and tends to produce ferocity toward those who are not regarded as members of the herd.

 

Kids | Youth | Adults | Calendar | Quotes | Heroes | Stories | The EMILY Fund | Scholarships
DO ONE THING and BetterWorld Kids Clubs are projects of The EMILY Fund (The Emily Silverstein Fund, Inc.)
Hero portraits are included for illustration purposes only - no celebrity endorsement implied

The Emily Fund
Education, Mentorship, Inspiration, Leadership, Youth
- for a Better
World

PO Box 430
Roosevelt, NJ 08555-0430
info@EmilyFund.org