It seems to me fundamental dishonesty, and a fundamental treachery to intellectual integrity to hold a belief because you think it’s useful and not because you think it’s true.
BERTRAND RUSSELLNo nation was ever so virtuous as each believes itself, and none was ever so wicked as each believes the other.
More Bertrand Russell Quotes
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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.
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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 -
Even if all the experts agree, they may well be mistaken.
BERTRAND RUSSELL -
I consider the official Catholic attitude on divorce, birth control, and censorship exceedingly dangerous to mankind.
BERTRAND RUSSELL -
Conventional people are roused to fury by departure from convention, largely because they regard such departure as a criticism of themselves.
BERTRAND RUSSELL -
Not to be absolutely certain is, I think, one of the essential things in rationality.
BERTRAND RUSSELL -
To be without some of the things you want is an indispensable part of happiness.
BERTRAND RUSSELL -
No nation was ever so virtuous as each believes itself, and none was ever so wicked as each believes the other.
BERTRAND RUSSELL -
A man is rational in proportion as his intelligence informs and controls his desires.
BERTRAND RUSSELL -
One of the painful things about our time is that those who feel certainty are stupid, and those with any imagination and understanding are filled with doubt and indecision.
BERTRAND RUSSELL -
It is a waste of energy to be angry with a man who behaves badly, just as it is to be angry with a car that won’t go.
BERTRAND RUSSELL -
So far as I can remember there is not one word in the gospels in praise of intelligence.
BERTRAND RUSSELL -
Men who are unhappy, like men who sleep badly, are always proud of the fact.
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A happy life must be to a great extent a quiet life, for it is only in an atmosphere of quiet that true joy can live.
BERTRAND RUSSELL -
Most people would sooner die than think; in fact, they do so.
BERTRAND RUSSELL