Bertrand Russell

On the one hand, philosophy is to keep us thinking about things that we may come to know, and on the other hand to keep us modestly aware of how much that seems like knowledge isn't knowledge

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.

I do so hate to leave this world

There is no difference between someone who eats too little and sees Heaven and someone who drinks too much and sees snakes

The professors must not prevent us from realizing that history is fun, and that the most bizarre things really happen

Science may set limits to knowledge, but should not set limits to imagination.

Nothing is so exhausting as indecision, and nothing is so futile.

It is only the intellect that keeps me sane perhaps this makes me overvalue intellect against feeling

The completely untravelled person will view all foreigners as the savage regards the members of another herd. But the man who has travelled, or who has studied international politics, will have discovered that, if he had to prosper, it must, to some

When the journey from means to end is not too long, the means themselves are enjoyed if the end is ardently desired.

The degree of one's emotions varies inversely with one's knowledge of the facts.

It is not by prayer and humility that you cause things to go as you wish, but by acquiring a knowledge of natural laws

The pursuit of knowledge is, I think, mainly actuated by love of power

Nine-tenths of the appeal of pornography is due to the indecent feelings concerning sex which moralists inculcate in the young the other tenth is physiological, and will occur in one way or another whatever the state of the law may be.

Bad philosophers may have a certain influence good philosophers, never.

The essence of the Liberal outlook lies not in what opinions are held, but in how they are held instead of being held dogmatically, they are held tentatively, and with a consciousness that new evidence may at any moment lead to their abandonment.

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.

Folly is perennial, yet the human race has survived.

Even when the experts all agree, they may well be mistaken.

Organic life, we are told, has developed gradually from the protozoon to the philosopher, and this development, we are assured, is indubitably an advance. Unfortunately it is the philosopher, not the protozoon, who gives us this assurance.

All human activity is prompted by desire.

What men want is not knowledge, but certainty.

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

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

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.