The search for something permanent is one of the deepest of the instincts leading men to philosophy. Bertrand Russell More Quotes by Bertrand Russell More Quotes From Bertrand Russell One of the most powerful of all our passions is the desire to be admired and respected. Bertrand Russell passionpowerfuldesire Almost all education has a political motive: it aims at strengthening some group, national or religious or even social, in the competition with other groups. It is this motive, in the main, which determines the subjects taught, the knowledge offered and the knowledge withheld, and also decides what mental habits the pupils are expected to acquire. Hardly anything is done to foster the inward growth of mind and spirit; in fact, those who have had the most education are very often atrophied in their mental and spiritual life. Bertrand Russell educationalreligiousspiritual In the daily lives of most men and women, fear plays a greater part than hope: they are more filled with the thought of the possessions that others may take from them, than of the joy that they might create in their own lives and in the lives with which they come in contact. It is not so that life should be lived. Bertrand Russell playjoymen The widespread interest in gossip is inspired, not by a love of knowledge but by malice: no one gossips about other people's secret virtues, but only about their secret vices. Accordingly most gossip is untrue, but care is taken not to verify it. Our neighbour's sins, like the consolations of religion, are so agreeable that we do not stop to scrutinise the evidence closely. Bertrand Russell gossiptakenpeople Science is what you know, philosophy is what you don't know. Bertrand Russell badassphilosophylife I think the subject which will be of most importance politically is Mass Psychology... Its importance has been enormously increased by the growth of modern methods of propaganda. Although this science will be diligently studied, it will be rigidly confined to the governing class. The populace will not be allowed to know how its convictions are generated. Bertrand Russell world-governmentclassthinking It is essential to happiness that our way of living should spring from our own deep impulses and not from the accidental tastes and desires of those who happen to be our neighbors, or even our relations. Bertrand Russell essentialsdesirespring Faith: a firm belief for which there is no evidence. Bertrand Russell firm-beliefsevidencebelief When two men of science disagree, they do not invoke the secular arm; they wait for further evidence to decide the issue, because, as men of science, they know that neither is infallible. But when two theologians differ, since there is no criteria to which either can appeal, there is nothing for it but mutual hatred and an open or covert appeal to force. Bertrand Russell issuesmentwo Democracy is the process by which people choose the man who'll get the blame. Bertrand Russell freedomhumorousmen Why is propaganda so much more successful when it stirs up hatred than when it tries to stir up friendly feeling? Bertrand Russell hatehatredsuccessful The fact that an opinion has been widely held is no evidence whatever that it is not utterly absurd. Bertrand Russell trutheducationreligion If I were granted omnipotence, and millions of years to experiment in, I should not think Man much to boast of as the final result of all my efforts. Bertrand Russell menyearsthinking In democratic countries, the most important private organizations are economic. Unlike secret societies, they are able to exercise their terrorism without illegality, since they do not threaten to kill their enemies, but only to starve them. Bertrand Russell organizationexercisecountry Religions, which condemn the pleasures of sense, drive men to seek the pleasures of power. Throughout history power has been the vice of the ascetic. Bertrand Russell powermenreligion Beware the man of the single book Bertrand Russell he-manmenbook We all have a tendency to think that the world must conform to our prejudices. The opposite view involves some effort of thought, and most people would die sooner than think in fact they do so. Bertrand Russell viewsoppositesthinking I am sometimes shocked by the blasphemies of those who think themselves pious. Bertrand Russell intelligencesometimesthinking The demand for certainty is one which is natural to man, but is nevertheless an intellectual vice. So long as men are not trained to withhold judgment in the absence of evidence, they will be led astray by cocksure prophets, and it is likely that their leaders will be either ignorant fanatics or dishonest charlatans. To endure uncertainty is difficult, but so are most of the other virtues. Bertrand Russell leadermenlong The world is full of magical things patiently waiting for our wits to grow sharper. Bertrand Russell patienceinspirationalfunny
