A smile happens in a flash, but its memory can last a lifetime. Bertrand Russell More Quotes by Bertrand Russell More Quotes From Bertrand Russell When you meet with opposition, even if it should be from your husband or your children, endeavor to overcome it by argument and not by authority, for a victory dependent upon authority is unreal and illusory. Bertrand Russell husband wisdom children Only in thought is man a God; in action and desire we are the slaves of circumstance. Bertrand Russell action desire men Even if we could be certain that one of the world's religions were perfectly true, given the sheer number of conflicting faiths on offer, every believer should expect damnation purely as a matter of probability. Bertrand Russell numbers world religion A good world needs knowledge, kindliness, and courage; it does not need a regretful hankering after the past or a fettering of the free intelligence by the words uttered long ago by ignorant men. Bertrand Russell atheist courage motivational To like many people spontaneously and without effort is perhaps the greatest of all sources of personal happiness. Bertrand Russell effort happiness people Never try to discourage thinking, for you are sure to succeed. Bertrand Russell atheism religion thinking Nothing is so exhausting as indecision, and nothing is so futile. Bertrand Russell procrastination happiness life Brief and powerless is man's life; on him and all his race the slow, sure doom falls pitiless and dark. Bertrand Russell life death fall Any pleasure that does no harm to other people is to be valued. Bertrand Russell doe happiness people The governors of the world believe, and have always believed, that virtue can only be taught by teaching falsehood, and that any man who knew the truth would be wicked. I disbelieve this, absolutely and entirely. I believe that love of truth is the basis of all real virtue, and that virtues based upon lies can only do harm. Bertrand Russell real peace lying My own view on religion is that of Lucretius. I regard it as a disease born of fear and as a source of untold misery to the human race. I cannot, however, deny that it has made some contributions to civilisation. It helped in early days to fix the calendar, and it caused Egyptian priests to chronicle eclipses with such care that in time they became able to predict them. These two services I am prepared to acknowledge, but I do not know of any others. Bertrand Russell race views two Religion is based, I think, primarily and mainly upon fear. Bertrand Russell science-and-religion atheism thinking Self-respect will keep a man from being abject when he is in the power of enemies, and will enable him to feel that he may be in the right when the world is against him. Bertrand Russell self character men The life of man is a long march through the night, surrounded by invisible foes, tortured by weariness and pain, towards a goal that few can hope to reach, and where none may tarry long. Bertrand Russell pain night life We know too much and feel too little. At least, we feel too little of those creative emotions from which a good life springs. Bertrand Russell creative spring life I conclude that, while it is true that science cannot decide questions of value, that is because they cannot be intellectually decided at all, and lie outside the realm of truth and falsehood. Whatever knowledge is attainable, must be attained by scientific methods; and what science cannot discover, mankind cannot know. Bertrand Russell science lying knowledge Science is what we know, and philosophy is what we don't know. Bertrand Russell philosophy science knowledge Those who have never known the deep intimacy and the intense companionship of happy mutual love have missed the best thing that life has to give. Bertrand Russell love giving life Fundamental happiness depends more than anything else upon what may be called a friendly interest in persons and things. Bertrand Russell fundamentals friendly happiness When a man acts in ways that annoy us we wish to think him wicked, and we refuse to face the fact that his annoying behavior is the result of antecedent causes which, if you follow them long enough, will take you beyond the moment of his birth, and therefore to events for which he cannot be held responsible by any stretch of imagination... When a motorcar fails to start, we do not attribute its annoying behavior to sin, we do not say, you are a wicked motorcar, and you shall not have any more gasoline until you go. Bertrand Russell men long thinking
