Bertrand Russell Quotes — Page 28

Philosopher, Mathematician

Philosophical

“The habit of looking to the future and thinking that the whole meaning of the present lies in what it will bring forth is a pernicious one. There can be no value in the whole unless there is value in the parts.”

Thinking Lying Time

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Bertrand Russell

Philosopher, Mathematician

Philosophical

“I once saw a photograph of a large herd of wild elephants in Central Africa Seeing an airplane for the first time, and all in a state of wild collective terror... As, however, there were no journalists among them, the terror died down when the airplane was out of sight.”

Funny Airplane Elephants

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Courageous

“Be isolated, be ignored, be attacked, be in doubt, be frightened, but do not be silenced.”

Doubt Ignored

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Hopeful

“One must care about a world one will not see.”

Peace Ignorance

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Philosophical

“When you are studying any matter or considering any philosophy, ask yourself only: what are the facts, and what is the truth that the facts bear out. Never let yourself be diverted by what you wish to believe, but look only and surely at what are the facts.”

Believe Philosophy Wish

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Wise

“An educator should think of a child as a gardener thinks of a plant, as something to be made to grow by having the right soil and the right amount of water. If your roses fail to bloom, it does not occur to you to whip them, but you try to find out what has been amiss in your treatment of them. ... The important thing is what the children do, and not what they do not do. And what they do, if it is to have value, must be a spontaneous expression of their own vital energy.”

Thinking Children Teaching

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Sad

“Marriage is for women the commonest mode of livelihood, and the total amount of undesired sex endured by women is probably greater in marriage than in prostitution.”

Sex Marriage Feminist

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Philosophical

“What is wanted is not the will to believe, but the will to find out, which is the exact opposite.”

Believe Science Opposites

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Inspired

“What else is there to make life tolerable? We stand on the shore of an ocean, crying to the night and to emptiness. Sometimes a voice of one drowning, and in a moment the silence returns. The world seems to me quite dreadful, the unhappiness of many people is very great, and I often wonder how they all endure it. It is usually the central thing around which their lives are built, and I suppose if they did not live most of their lives in the things of the moment, they would not be able to go on.”

Life Night Ocean

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Funny

“The world in which we live can be understood as a result of muddle and accident; but if it is the outcome of deliberate purpose, the purpose must have been that of a fiend. For my part, I find accident a less painful and more plausible hypothesis.”

World Purpose Religion

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Philosophical

“Christ said "Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself" and when asked "who is thy neighbour? went on to the parable of the Good Samaritan. If you wish to understand this parable as it was understood by his hearers, you should substitute "Germans and Japanese" for Samaritan. I fear my modern day Christians would resent such a substitution, because it would compel them to realize how far they have departed from the teachings of the founder of their religion.”

Christian Teaching Departed

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Philosophical

“Change is scientific; progress is ethical; change is indubitable, whereas progress is a matter of controversy.”

Science Change History

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