Quotes by Bertrand Russell

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

— Bertrand Russell

Wisdom

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

— Bertrand Russell

Love

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

— Bertrand Russell

Life

The time you enjoy wasting is not wasted time.

— Bertrand Russell

Happiness

Those who have never known the deep intimacy and the intense companionship of mutual love have missed the best thing that life has to give.

— Bertrand Russell

Love

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

— Bertrand Russell

Happiness

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

— Bertrand Russell

Life

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

Life

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

— Bertrand Russell

Wisdom

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

Education

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

Love

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

Courage

I've made an odd discovery. Every time I talk to a savant I feel quite sure that happiness is no longer a possibility. Yet when I talk with my gardener, I'm convinced of the opposite.

— Bertrand Russell

Happiness

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

Wisdom

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

— Bertrand Russell

Love

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

Wisdom

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

Truth

The only thing that will redeem mankind is cooperation.

— Bertrand Russell

Wisdom

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

— Bertrand Russell

Wisdom

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

— Bertrand Russell

Wisdom

Mathematics may be defined as the subject in which we never know what we are talking about, nor whether what we are saying is true.

— Bertrand Russell

Wisdom

I like mathematics because it is not human and has nothing particular to do with this planet or with the whole accidental universe - because, like Spinoza's God, it won't love us in return.

— Bertrand Russell

Love

Religion is something left over from the infancy of our intelligence, it will fade away as we adopt reason and science as our guidelines.

— Bertrand Russell

Education

To conquer fear is the beginning of wisdom.

— Bertrand Russell

Courage