Bertrand Russell Sayings and Quotes

Below you will find our collection of inspirational, wise, and humorous old Bertrand Russell quotes, Bertrand Russell sayings, and Bertrand Russell proverbs, collected over the years from a variety of sources.'

Punctuality is a quality the need of which is bound up with social co-operation. It has nothing to do with the relation of the soul to God, or with mystic insight, or with any of the matters with which the more elevated and spiritual moralists are concerned. Bertrand Russell
Grasshopper always wrong in argument with chicken. Bertrand Russell
Three passions, simple but overwhelmingly strong, have governed my life: the longing for love, the search for knowledge, and unbearable pity for the suffering of mankind. Bertrand Russell
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. Bertrand Russell
There is no nonsense so arrant that it cannot be made the creed of the vast majority by adequate governmental action. Bertrand Russell
While economics is about how people make choice, sociology is about how they don't have any choice to make. Bertrand Russell
Escape from boredom is one of the really powerful desires of almost all human beings. Bertrand Russell
Never try to discourage thinking, for you are sure to succeed. Bertrand Russell
A priori Logical propositions are such as can be known a priori without study of the actual world. Bertrand Russell
Even in the most purely logical realms, it is insight that first arrives at what is new. Bertrand Russell
Patriotism is the willingness to kill and be killed for trivial reasons. Bertrand Russell
Do not fear to be eccentric in opinion, for every opinion now accepted was once eccentric. Bertrand Russell
Nothing is so exhausting as indecision, and nothing is so futile. 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
What is best in mathematics deserves not merely to be learned as a task but to be assimilated as a part of daily thought, and brought again and again before the mind with ever-renewed encouragement. Bertrand Russell
Mathematics, rightly viewed, possesses not only truth, but supreme beauty. Bertrand Russell
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
Mathematics takes us into the region of absolute necessity, to which not only the actual word, but every possible word, must conform. Bertrand Russell
The fundamental cause of the trouble is that in the modern world the stupid are cocksure while the intelligent are full of doubt. Bertrand Russell
Affection cannot be created; it can only be liberated. Bertrand Russell
To choose one sock from each of infinitely many pairs of socks requires the Axiom of Choice, but for shoes the Axiom is not needed. Bertrand Russell
A sense of duty is useful in work, but offensive in personal relations. Bertrand Russell
Life is nothing but a competition to be the criminal rather than the victim. Bertrand Russell
One of the symptoms of an approaching nervous breakdown is the belief that one's work is terribly important. Bertrand Russell
The fact that a belief has a good moral effect upon a man is no evidence whatsoever in favor of its truth. Bertrand Russell
The best life is the one in which the creative impulses play the largest part and the possessive impulses the smallest. Bertrand Russell
To be able to concentrate for a considerable time is essential to difficult achievement. Bertrand Russell
One of the symptoms of an approaching nervous breakdown is the belief that one's work is terribly important. Bertrand Russell
Dread of disaster makes everybody act in the very way that increases the disaster. Bertrand Russell
The pure mathematician, like the musician, is a free creator of his world of ordered beauty. Bertrand Russell