Quotessence
Home / Authors / Bertrand Russell
Bertrand Russell

Bertrand Russell Quotes

Philosopher

Filter quotes by topic

AllMenIfsWorldThinkingPeopleHumansPhilosophyShouldScienceMayReligionBeliefKnowsFactsBelieveHas BeensMathematicsDesireReasonAtheism

Famous Bertrand Russell Quotes

“In science the successors stand upon the shoulders of their predecessors; where one man of supreme genius has invented a method, a thousand lesser men can apply it. ... In art nothing worth doing can be done without genius; in science even a very moderate capacity can contribute to a supreme achievement.”

MenArtDoneScienceGeniusThousandAchievementCapacityAccountsMethodSupremeShouldersInventionOne ManModeratesPredecessorsSuccessors
Book:Mysticism and Logic and Other Essays
Create image

“Science, by itself, cannot supply us with an ethic. It can show us how to achieve a given end, and it may show us that some ends cannot be achieved. But among ends that can be achieved our choice must be decided by other than purely scientific considerations. If a man were to say, "I hate the human race, and I think it would be a good thing if it were exterminated," we could say, "Well, my dear sir, let us begin the process with you." But this is hardly argument, and no amount of science could prove such a man mistaken.”

IfsThinkingMenHumansWellsMayEndsShowsWould BeScienceHateChoicesGivenProcessDecisionRaceMistakeAchieveAmountProveAchievementEthicsArgumentDecidedAccountsI HateGood ThingsDearHuman RaceConsiderationMistakenOur Choices
Author:Bertrand Russell
Create image

“In attempting to understand the elements out of which mental phenomena are compounded, it is of the greatest importance to remember that from the protozoa to man there is nowhere a very wide gap either in structure or in behaviour. From this fact it is a highly probable inference that there is also nowhere a very wide mental gap.”

MenMindFactsRememberScienceElementsImportanceStructureWideGapsBehaviourAttemptingInference
Book:The Analysis of Mind
Create image

“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.”

IfsMindMayMeanMatterHardHelpingScienceProcessSituationTakenClearInfluenceDegreesReflectionCriticalDataOperationsDistinctionVagueDoubtfulCritical Reflection
Book:Our Knowledge of the External World as a Field for Scientific Method in Philosophy
Create image

“Although this may seem a paradox, all exact science is dominated by the idea of approximation. When a man tells you that he knows the exact truth about anything, you are safe in inferring that he is an inexact man. Every careful measurement in science is always given with the probable error ... every observer admits that he is likely wrong, and knows about how much wrong he is likely to be.”

KnowsMenMayIdeasSeemsTruthScienceGivenSafeErrorsCarefulParadoxObserversMeasurementApproximationExact Sciences
Author:Bertrand Russell
Create image

“In the higher walks of politics the same sort of thing occurs. The statesman who has gradually concentrated all power within himself ... may have had anything but a public motive... The phrases which are customary on the platform and in the Party Press have gradually come to him to seem to express truths, and he mistakes the rhetoric of partisanship for a genuine analysis of motives... He retires from the world after the world has retired from him.”

WorldMaySeemsTruthScienceWalksPartyMistakePowerHigherPressesGenuineAnalysisPhrasesMotiveRetiringPlatformsRhetoricRetiredStatesmenPartisanship
Author:Bertrand Russell
Create image

“But it is just this characteristic of simplicity in the laws of nature hitherto discovered which it would be fallacious to generalize, for it is obvious that simplicity has been a part cause of their discovery, and can, therefore, give no ground for the supposition that other undiscovered laws are equally simple.”

GivingHas BeensWould BeLawScienceCausesSimpleDiscoverySimplicityObviousCharacteristicsLaws Of NatureSupposition
Book:Mysticism and Logic, and Other Essays
Create image

“Gradually, ... the aspect of science as knowledge is being thrust into the background by the aspect of science as the power of manipulating nature. It is because science gives us the power of manipulating nature that it has more social importance than art. Science as the pursuit of truth is the equal, but not the superior, of art. Science as a technique, though it may have little intrinsic value, has a practical importance to which art cannot aspire.”

GivingMayLittlesArtScienceValuesSocialKnowledgePowerTruth IsEqualAspectAccountsImportanceTechniquePursuitPracticalsBackgroundsSuperiorsAspireThrustIntrinsic Value
Book:The Scientific Outlook
Create image

“Aristotle, in spite of his reputation, is full of absurdities. He says that children should be conceived in the Winter, when the wind is in the North, and that if people marry too young the children will be female. He tells us that the blood of females is blacker than that of males; that the pig is the only animal liable to measles; that an elephant suffering from insomnia should have its shoulders rubbed with salt, olive-oil, and warm water; that women have fewer teeth than men, and so on. Nevertheless, he is considered by the great majority of philosophers a paragon of wisdom.”

PeopleIfsMenShouldChildrenWisdomYoungScienceSufferingWaterAnimalBloodWindFemaleShould HaveMajorityMalesWinterPhilosopherWarmOilShouldersTeethReputationSpiteFewerSaltPigsNeverthelessAbsurdityElephantsInsomniaLiableOlivesOlive OilMeaslesParagon
Book:An Outline of Intellectual Rubbish: A Hilarious Catalogue of Organized and Individual Stupidity
Create image

“At the age of eleven, I began Euclid, with my brother as my tutor. ... I had not imagined that there was anything so delicious in the world. After I had learned the fifth proposition, my brother told me that it was generally considered difficult, but I had found no difficulty whatsoever. This was the first time it had dawned on me that I might have some intelligence.”

WorldFirstsMightAgeScienceFoundDifficultBrotherFirst TimeDifficultyMy BrotherBiographiesPropositionsDeliciousFifthElevenTutorEuclid
Book:Autobiography
Create image