Quotessence
Home / Authors / Bertrand Russell
Bertrand Russell

Bertrand Russell Quotes

Philosopher

Filter quotes by topic

AllMenIfsWorldThinkingPeopleHumansPhilosophyShouldScienceMayReligionBeliefKnowsFactsBelieveHas BeensMathematicsDesireReasonAtheism

Famous Bertrand Russell Quotes

“When you come to look into this argument from design, it is a most astonishing thing that people can believe that this world, with all the things that are in it, with all its defects, should be the best that omnipotence and omniscience have been able to produce in millions of years. I really cannot believe it. Do you think that, if you were granted omnipotence and omniscience and millions of years in which to perfect your world, you could produce nothing better than the Ku Klux Klan or the Fascists? Moreover, if you accept the ordinary laws of science, you have to suppose that human life and life in general on this planet will die out in due course: it is a stage in the decay of the solar system; at a certain stage of decay you get the sort of conditions of temperature and so forth which are suitable to protoplasm, and there is life for a short time in the life of the whole solar system. You see in the moon the sort of thing to which the earth is tending -- something dead, cold, and lifeless.”

PhilosophyGodReligionMoonBertrand RussellRussellArgument From DesignWhy I Am Not A Christian
Author:Bertrand Russell
Create image

“Со своей стороны, я предпочитаю онтологическое доказательство [существования Бога], космологическое доказательство и остальной старый запас аргументов той сентиментальной нелогичности, которая берет начало от Руссо. Старые доказательства были по крайней мере честными; если они правильные, то они доказывали свою точку зрения, если они неправильные, то для любой критики доступно доказать это. Но новая теология сердца отказывается от доказательства; она не может быть отвергнута, потому что она не претендует на доказательство своей точки зрения. В конечном счете единственным основанием для ее принятия оказывается то, что она позволяет нам предаваться приятным грезам. Это не заслуживающая уважения причина, и, если бы я выбирал между Фомой Аквинским и Руссо, я выбрал бы Фому Аквинского.”

PhilosophyReligion
Book:История западной философии
Create image

“Следует признать, что имеется определенный тип христианской этики, к которому осуждающая критика Ницше может быть применена справедливо. Паскаль и Достоевский, которых он сам приводит в качестве примера, – оба имеют что-то жалкое в своей добродетели. Паскаль принес в жертву своему Богу великолепный математический ум, тем самым приписывая Богу жестокость, которая является космическим расширением болезненных душевных мук самого Паскаля. Достоевский не желал иметь ничего общего с «личной гордостью»; он согрешил бы, чтобы покаяться и испытать наслаждение исповеди. Я не стану обсуждать вопрос, насколько в таких помрачениях ума следует обвинять христианство, но я согласен с Ницше, считая прострацию Достоевского презренной. Я должен согласиться и с тем, что прямота и гордость и даже некоторое самоутверждение являются элементами самого лучшего характера. Нельзя восхищаться добродетелью, в основе которой лежит страх.”

PhilosophyReligion
Book:История западной философии
Create image

“I am myself a dissenter from all known religions, and I hope that every kind of religious belief will die out. I do not believe that, on the balance, religious belief has been a force for good. Although I am prepared to admit that in certain times and places it has had some good effects, I regard it as belonging to the infancy of human reason, and to a stage of development which we are now outgrowing.”

ReligionBeliefsRationality
Book:Sceptical Essays
Create image

“When Benjamin Franklin invented the lightning-rod, the clergy, both in England and America, with the enthusiastic support of George III, condemned it as an impious attempt to defeat the will of God. For, as all right-thinking people were aware, lightning is sent by God to punish impiety or some other grave sin—the virtuous are never struck by lightning. Therefore if God wants to strike any one, Benjamin Franklin [and his lightning-rod] ought not to defeat His design; indeed, to do so is helping criminals to escape. But God was equal to the occasion, if we are to believe the eminent Dr. Price, one of the leading divines of Boston. Lightning having been rendered ineffectual by the 'iron points invented by the sagacious Dr. Franklin,' Massachusetts was shaken by earthquakes, which Dr. Price perceived to be due to God's wrath at the 'iron points.' In a sermon on the subject he said, 'In Boston are more erected than elsewhere in New England, and Boston seems to be more dreadfully shaken. Oh! there is no getting out of the mighty hand of God.' Apparently, however, Providence gave up all hope of curing Boston of its wickedness, for, though lightning-rods became more and more common, earthquakes in Massachusetts have remained rare.”

GodAmericaReligionChristianityDesignDivineEnglandProvidenceLightningWickednessBostonPietySuperstitionFranklinClergyNew EnglandMassachusettsIdiocyHand Of GodBenjamin FranklinGeorge IiiImpiousLightning Rod
Book:An Outline of Intellectual Rubbish: A Hilarious Catalogue of Organized and Individual Stupidity
Create image

“Святий Кирило, поборник єдності, був людиною фанатично ревною. Він користався своїм становищем патріарха, аби розпалювати погроми в дуже великій єврейській колонії у Александрії. Найбільш уславився він самосудом над Гіпатією, видатною жінкою, що в ту добу святенництва держалась неоплатонічної філософії й присвятила свої таланти математиці. її «стягли з колісниці, здерли з неї весь одяг, затягли до церкви й нелюдськи замордували читець Петро та юрба знавіснілих безжальних фанатиків; м'ясо зішкрібали їй з кісток гострими скойками, а потім кинули тіло, яке ще корчилось, у вогонь. Справедливий хід слідства й покари був зупинений відповідними хабарами». Після цього філософи більш не баламутили Александрії.”

PhilosophyReligionSt Cyril
Book:A History of Western Philosophy
Create image

“The career of Puritanism has been curious. It held brief power in England in the seventeenth century, but so disgusted the mass of ordinary citizens that they have never again allowed it to control the Government. The Puritans, persecuted in England, colonised New England, and subsequently the Middle West. The American Civil War was a continuation of the English Civil War, the Southern States having been mainly colonised by opponents of the Puritans. But unlike the English Civil War, it led to a permanent victory of the Puritan Party. The result is that the greatest Power in the world is controlled by men who inherit the outlook of Cromwell’s Ironsides.”

ReligionAmerican HistoryAmerican CultureAmerican Civil WarPuritanismMoralismCromwellEnglish Civil War
Book:Sceptical Essays
Create image

“The more intense has been the religion of any period and the more profound has been the dogmatic belief, the greater has been the cruelty and the worse has been the state of affairs.”

Has BeensStatesReligionBeliefGreaterPeriodsProfoundAffairIntenseCrueltyDogmaticAnti ReligiousMorality And ReligionReligious Dogma
Book:Why I Am Not a Christian: And Other Essays on Religion and Related Subjects
Create image

“Prison is a severe and terrible punishment; but for me, thanks to Arthur Balfour, this was not so. I was much cheered on my arrival by the warder at the gate, who had to take particulars about me. He asked my religion, and I replied 'agnostic.' He asked how to spell it, and remarked with a sigh: 'Well, there are many religions, but I suppose they all worship the same God.' This remark kept me cheerful for about a week.”

WellsGodReligionWeekTerribleWorshipPrisonPunishmentThanksGatesSpellsMathematicianSevereAgnosticSighCheerfulRemarksArrivalsArthur
Book:Autobiography
Create image

“I say quite deliberately that the Christian religion, as organized in its Churches, has been and still is the principal enemy of moral progress in the world.”

WorldHas BeensStillsChristianDeathReligionChurchMoralEnemyProgressAtheismDyingAtheistOrganizedPrincipalAgnosticAtheisticChristian TheologyReligious Dogma
Book:Why I Am Not a Christian: And Other Essays on Religion and Related Subjects
Create image

“There is something feeble, and a little contemptible, about a man who cannot face the perils of life without the help of comfortable myths. Almost inevitably some part of him is aware that they are myths and that he believes them only because they are comforting. But he dare not face this thought, and he therefore cannot carry his own reflection to any logical conclusion.”

MenBelieveLittlesHelpingFacesReligionOpinionAtheismComfortableDareMythRationalComfortingPerilFurious
Author:Bertrand Russell
Create image

“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.”

WorldLooksHas BeensStillsWarFeelingsChristianLawReligionBitsChurchRaceMoralStepsEnemyPrinciplesProgressSlaveryCriminalsImprovementAround The WorldOrganizedTreatmentConsistentlyHumaneEvery StepAnti ReligiousMorality And ReligionCriminal LawReligious WarsReligion WarReligion And WarReligious DogmaRace And Religion
Book:The basic writings of Bertrand Russell, 1903-1959
Create image

“There is no excuse for deceiving children. And when, as must happen in conventional families, they find that their parents have lied, they lose confidence in them and feel justified in lying to them.”

FeelsChildrenHappensLyingReligionParentLosesEducationIntelligenceExcuseDeceivingConventionalJustifiedLiedNo Excuses
Book:Why I Am Not a Christian: And Other Essays on Religion and Related Subjects
Create image

“Are you never afraid of God's judgement in denying him? Most certainly not. I also deny Zeus and Jupiter and Odin and Brahma, but this causes me no qualms. I observe that a very large portion of the human race does not believe in God and suffers no visible punishment in consequence. And if there were a God, I think it very unlikely that He would have such an uneasy vanity as to be offended by those who doubt His existence.”

IfsThinkingBelieveHumansDoeReligionSufferingCausesRaceExistenceDoubtConsequenceDenyPunishmentVanityHuman RaceJudgementVisibleBelieve In GodPortionsOffendedUnlikelyUneasyZeusJupiterBrahmaOdinQualms
Author:Bertrand Russell
Create image

“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.”

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

“My own view on religion is that of Lucretius. I regard it as a disease born of fear and as a source of untold misery to the human race. I cannot, however, deny that it has made some contributions to civilisation. It helped in early days to fix the calendar, and it caused Egyptian priests to chronicle eclipses with such care that in time they became able to predict them. These two services I am prepared to acknowledge, but I do not know of any others.”

KnowsHumansMadeTwoCareAbleReligionBornMy OwnViewsRaceSourceDiseaseRegardMiseryPreparedDenyAcknowledgeHuman RaceContributionPriestsCivilisationCalendarsEclipseEgyptianChronicles
Book:A Fresh Look at Empiricism: 1927-42
Create image

“Modern American politicians have the same cowardice about denying an equally bloodthirsty even sillier god, Jehovah. None of us would seriously consider the possibility that all the gods of Homer really exist... I think that all of us would say in regard to those gods that we were atheists. In regard to the Christian God, I should, I think, take exactly the same line.”

ThinkingShouldChristianReligionLinesModernPossibilityPoliticianRegardAtheistCowardiceShould IJehovahChristian God
Author:Bertrand Russell
Create image

“The objections to religion are of two sorts - intellectual and moral. The intellectual objection is that there is no reason to suppose any religion true; the moral objection is that religious precepts date from a time when men were more cruel than they are and therefore tend to perpetuate inhumanities which the moral conscience of the age would otherwise outgrow.”

MenTwoReasonAgeDeathReligionReligiousMoralIntellectualConscienceNo ReasonObjectionsInhumanityMoral Conscience
Book:Why I Am Not a Christian: And Other Essays on Religion and Related Subjects
Create image

“There are two ways of avoiding fear: one is by persuading ourselves that we are immune from disaster, and the other is by the practice of sheer courage. The latter is difficult, and to everybody becomes impossible at a certain point. The former has therefore always been more popular. Primitive magic has the purpose of securing safety, either by injuring enemies, or by protecting oneself by talismans, spells, or incantations.”

WayTwoPurposeCertainReligionDifficultEnemyPracticeImpossibleMagicSafetyOneselfDisasterFormerLatterSpellsPrimitiveSheerAvoidingTwo WaysImmunePersuadingTalismans
Book:Bertrand Russell on God and Religion
Create image

“When two men of science disagree, they do not invoke the secular arm; they wait for further evidence to decide the issue, because, as men of science, they know that neither is infallible. But when two theologians differ, since there is no criteria to which either can appeal, there is nothing for it but mutual hatred and an open or covert appeal to force.”

KnowsMenTwoReligionForceWaitingIssuesAtheismArmsEvidenceHatredAppealsMutualDisagreeSecularTheologianCriteriaInfallibleInvokeCovertTwo Religions
Book:Why I Am Not a Christian: And Other Essays on Religion and Related Subjects
Create image