1,551 Quotes by Bertrand Russell

Why repeat the old errors, if there are so many new errors to commit?

Suppose atomic bombs had reduced the population of the world to one brother and sister; should they let the human race die out?

If we were all given by magic the power to read each other's thoughts, I suppose the first effect would be to dissolve all friendships.

I do not pretend that birth control is the only way in which population can be kept from increasing. There are others, which, one must suppose, opponents of birth control would prefer.

We are ... led to a somewhat vague distinction between what we may call "hard" data and "soft" data. This distinction is a matter of degree, and must not be pressed; but if not taken too seriously it may help to make the situation clear. I mean by "hard" data those which resist the solvent influence of critical reflection, and by "soft" data those which, under the operation of this process, become to our minds more or less doubtful.

Vanity is a motive of immense potency.

To save the world requires faith and courage: faith in reason, and courage to proclaim what reason shows to be true.

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.

An educator should think of a child as a garderner thinks of a plant, as something to be made to grow by having the right soil and the right kind amount of water. If your roses fail to bloom, it does not occur to you to whip them, but you should 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.