1,551 Quotes by Bertrand Russell

Science, by itself cannot, supply us with an ethic.

What is new in our time is the increased power of the authorities to enforce their prejudices.

Philosophy bakes no bread

Throughout the long period of religious doubt, I had been rendered very unhappy by the gradual loss of belief, but when the process was completed, I found to my surprise that I was quite glad to be done with the whole subject.

Scientific method, although in its more refined forms it may seem complicated, is in essence remarkably simply. It consists in observing such facts as will enable the observer to discover general laws governing facts of the kind in question. The two stages, first of observation, and second of inference to a law, are both essential, and each is susceptible of almost indefinite refinement. (1931)

True happiness for human beings is possible only to those who develop their godlike potentialities to the utmost.

Most of the greatest evils that man has inflicted upon man have come through people feeling quite certain about something which, in fact, was false.

The typical Westerner wishes to be the cause of as many changes as possible in his environment; the typical Chinaman wishes to enjoy as much and as delicately as possible.

When the journey from means to end is not too long, the means themselves are enjoyed if the end is ardently desired.