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The basic writings of Bertrand Russell, 1903-1959

Book by Bertrand Russell · 17 quotes · Science, Ifs, Mean

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The basic writings of Bertrand Russell, 1903-1959 Quotes

“After ages during which the earth produced harmless trilobites and butterflies, evolution progressed to the point at which it generated Neros, Genghis Khans, and Hitlers. This, however, is a passing nightmare; in time the earth will become again incapable of supporting life, and peace will return.”

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Book:The basic writings of Bertrand Russell, 1903-1959
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“Protagoras did not know if the gods exist, but he held in any case they ought to be worshiped. Philosophy, according to him, had nothing edifying to teach, and for the survival of morals we must rely upon the thoughtlessness of the majority and their willingness to believe what they had been taught.”

IfsKnowsBelievePhilosophyMoralTeachCasesTaughtOughtSurvivalMajorityRelyWillingnessGod ExistsRely UponThoughtlessness
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“You find as you look around the world that every single bit of progress in humane feeling, every improvement in the criminal law, every step toward the diminution of war, every step toward better treatment of the colored races, or every mitigation of slavery, every moral progress that there has been in the world, has been consistently opposed by the organized churches of the world. I say quite deliberately that the christian religion, as organized in its churches, has been and still is the principle enemy of moral progress in the world.”

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Book:The basic writings of Bertrand Russell, 1903-1959
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“I mean by intellectual integrity the habit of deciding vexed questions in accordance with the evidence, or of leaving them undecided where the evidence is inconclusive. This virtue, though it is underestimated by almost all adherents of any system of dogma, is to my mind of the very greatest social importance and far more likely to benefit the world than Christianity or any other system of organized beliefs.”

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Book:The basic writings of Bertrand Russell, 1903-1959
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“When it was first proposed to establish laboratories at Cambridge, Todhunter, the mathematician, objected that it was unnecessary for students to see experiments performed, since the results could be vouched for by their teachers, all of them of the highest character, and many of them clergymen of the Church of England.”

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Book:The basic writings of Bertrand Russell, 1903-1959
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“The examination system, and the fact that instruction is treated mainly as a training for a livelihood, leads the young to regard knowledge from a purely utilitarian point of view as the road to money, not as the gateway to wisdom.”

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Book:The basic writings of Bertrand Russell, 1903-1959
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“Ordinary language is totally unsuited for expressing what physics really asserts, since the words of everyday life are not sufficiently abstract. Only mathematics and mathematical logic can say as little as the physicist means to say.”

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Book:The basic writings of Bertrand Russell, 1903-1959
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