Today I'm sharing with you some quotes from Bertrand Russell; a British mathematician, philosopher and logician. Enjoy.
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"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."
"Historical facts, many of them, have an intrinsic value, a profound interest on their own account, which makes them worthy of study, quite apart from any possibility of linking them together by means of causal laws."
"No nation was ever so virtuous as each believes itself, and none was ever so wicked as each believes the other."
"It is preoccupation with possession, more than anything else, that prevents men from living freely and nobly."
"To save the world requires faith and courage: faith in reason, and courage to proclaim what reason shows to be true."
"We all have a tendency to think that the world must conform to our prejudices. The opposite view involves some effort of thought, and most people would die sooner than think — in fact they do so."
"The good life is one inspired by love and guided by knowledge."
"Neither acquiescence in skepticism nor acquiescence in dogma is what education should produce. What it should produce is a belief that knowledge is attainable in a measure, though with difficulty; that much of what passes for knowledge at any given time is likely to be more or less mistaken, but that the mistakes can be rectified by care and industry. In acting upon our beliefs, we should be very cautious where a small error would mean disaster; nevertheless it is upon our beliefs that we must act. This state of mind is rather difficult: it requires a high degree of intellectual culture without emotional atrophy. But though difficult, it is not impossible; it is in fact the scientific temper. Knowledge, like other good things, is difficult, but not impossible; the dogmatist forgets the difficulty, the skeptic denies the possibility. Both are mistaken, and their errors, when widespread, produce social disaster."
"What is new in our time is the increased power of the authorities to enforce their prejudices."
"Mathematics, rightly viewed, possesses not only truth, but supreme beauty."
"Reason is a harmonising, controlling force rather than a creative one. Even in the most purely logical realms, it is insight that first arrives at what is new."
"To fear love is to fear life, and those who fear life are already three parts dead."
"Boredom is therefore a vital problem for the moralist, since at least half the sins of mankind are caused by the fear of it."
"Not to be absolutely certain is, I think, one of the essential things in rationality."
"Change is one thing, progress is another. "Change" is scientific, "progress" is ethical; change is indubitable, whereas progress is a matter of controversy."
"As soon as we abandon our own reason, and are content to rely upon authority, there is no end to our troubles."
"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. These passions, like great winds, have blown me hither and thither, in a wayward course, over a deep ocean of anguish, reaching to the very verge of despair..Children in famine, victims tortured by oppressors, helpless old people..the whole world of loneliness, poverty, and pain make a mockery of what human life should be. I long to alleviate this evil, but I cannot, and I too suffer. This has been my life. I have found it worth living, and would gladly live it again if the chance were offered me."
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EDIT: The following quotes were sent to me by a friend after seeing this post, and I could not resist sharing them on here, so I've added them. Enjoy:
"One should as a rule respect public opinion in so far as is necessary to avoid starvation and to keep out of prison, but anything that goes beyond this is voluntary submission to an unnecessary tyranny, and is likely to interfere with happiness in all kinds of ways."
“The fact that an opinion has been widely held is no evidence whatever that it is not utterly absurd.”
“Do not fear to be eccentric in opinion, for every opinion now accepted was once eccentric.”
"One of the symptoms of an approaching nervous breakdown is the belief that one’s work is terribly important."
"I remain convinced that obstinate addiction to ordinary language in our private thoughts is one of the main obstacles to progress in philosophy."
"Sin is geographical."
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God bless.
(:
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"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."
"Historical facts, many of them, have an intrinsic value, a profound interest on their own account, which makes them worthy of study, quite apart from any possibility of linking them together by means of causal laws."
"No nation was ever so virtuous as each believes itself, and none was ever so wicked as each believes the other."
"It is preoccupation with possession, more than anything else, that prevents men from living freely and nobly."
"To save the world requires faith and courage: faith in reason, and courage to proclaim what reason shows to be true."
"We all have a tendency to think that the world must conform to our prejudices. The opposite view involves some effort of thought, and most people would die sooner than think — in fact they do so."
"The good life is one inspired by love and guided by knowledge."
"Neither acquiescence in skepticism nor acquiescence in dogma is what education should produce. What it should produce is a belief that knowledge is attainable in a measure, though with difficulty; that much of what passes for knowledge at any given time is likely to be more or less mistaken, but that the mistakes can be rectified by care and industry. In acting upon our beliefs, we should be very cautious where a small error would mean disaster; nevertheless it is upon our beliefs that we must act. This state of mind is rather difficult: it requires a high degree of intellectual culture without emotional atrophy. But though difficult, it is not impossible; it is in fact the scientific temper. Knowledge, like other good things, is difficult, but not impossible; the dogmatist forgets the difficulty, the skeptic denies the possibility. Both are mistaken, and their errors, when widespread, produce social disaster."
"What is new in our time is the increased power of the authorities to enforce their prejudices."
"Mathematics, rightly viewed, possesses not only truth, but supreme beauty."
"Reason is a harmonising, controlling force rather than a creative one. Even in the most purely logical realms, it is insight that first arrives at what is new."
"To fear love is to fear life, and those who fear life are already three parts dead."
"Boredom is therefore a vital problem for the moralist, since at least half the sins of mankind are caused by the fear of it."
"Not to be absolutely certain is, I think, one of the essential things in rationality."
"Change is one thing, progress is another. "Change" is scientific, "progress" is ethical; change is indubitable, whereas progress is a matter of controversy."
"As soon as we abandon our own reason, and are content to rely upon authority, there is no end to our troubles."
"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. These passions, like great winds, have blown me hither and thither, in a wayward course, over a deep ocean of anguish, reaching to the very verge of despair..Children in famine, victims tortured by oppressors, helpless old people..the whole world of loneliness, poverty, and pain make a mockery of what human life should be. I long to alleviate this evil, but I cannot, and I too suffer. This has been my life. I have found it worth living, and would gladly live it again if the chance were offered me."
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
EDIT: The following quotes were sent to me by a friend after seeing this post, and I could not resist sharing them on here, so I've added them. Enjoy:
"One should as a rule respect public opinion in so far as is necessary to avoid starvation and to keep out of prison, but anything that goes beyond this is voluntary submission to an unnecessary tyranny, and is likely to interfere with happiness in all kinds of ways."
“The fact that an opinion has been widely held is no evidence whatever that it is not utterly absurd.”
“Do not fear to be eccentric in opinion, for every opinion now accepted was once eccentric.”
"One of the symptoms of an approaching nervous breakdown is the belief that one’s work is terribly important."
"I remain convinced that obstinate addiction to ordinary language in our private thoughts is one of the main obstacles to progress in philosophy."
"Sin is geographical."
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God bless.
(:
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