"The fact that an opinion has been widely held is no evidence whatever that it is not utterly absurd."

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More quotes from: Bertrand Russell

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• "All movements go too far. "
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• "Aristotle maintained that women have fewer teeth than men; although he was twice married, it ..."
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• "Both in thought and in feeling, even though time be real, to realise the unimportance ..."
• "Conventional people are roused to fury by departure from convention, largely because they regard such ..."
• "Democracy is the process by which people choose the man who'll get the blame. "
• "Do not fear to be eccentric in opinion, for every opinion now accepted was once ..."
• "Fear is the main source of superstition, and one of the main sources of cruelty. ..."
• "Freedom of opinion can only exist when the government thinks itself secure. "
• "God is a reality of spirit... He cannot... be conceived as an object, not even ..."
• "I believe in using words, not fists. I believe in my outrage knowing people are ..."
• "I did not know I loved you until I heard myself telling so, for one ..."
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• "I think we ought always to entertain our opinions with some measure of doubt. I ..."
• "I would never die for my beliefs because I might be wrong. "
• "I've made an odd discovery. Every time I talk to a savant I feel quite ..."
• "If there were in the world today any large number of people who desired their ..."
• "In all affairs it's a healthy thing now and then to hang a question mark ..."
• "In America everybody is of the opinion that he has no social superiors, since all ..."
• "It has been said that man is a rational animal. All my life I have ..."
• "It is preoccupation with possessions, more than anything else, that prevents us from living freely ..."
• "It seems to be the fate of idealists to obtain what they have struggled for ..."
• "Italy, and the spring and first love all together should suffice to make the gloomiest ..."
• "Love is something far more than desire for sexual intercourse; it is the principal means ..."

• "Man is a credulous animal, and must believe something; in the absence of good grounds ..."
• "Man needs, for his happiness, not only the enjoyment of this or that, but hope ..."
• "Many people would sooner die than think; in fact, they do so. "
• "Marriage is for women the commonest mode of livelihood, and the total amount of undesired ..."
• "Mathematics takes us into the region of absolute necessity, to which not only the actual ..."
• "Men are born ignorant, not stupid. They are made stupid by education. "
• "Most people would sooner die than think; in fact, they do so. "
• "Much that passes as idealism is disguised hatred or disguised love of power. "
• "Neither a man nor a crowd nor a nation can be trusted to act humanely ..."
• "Next to enjoying ourselves, the next greatest pleasure consists in preventing others from enjoying themselves, ..."
• "No one gossips about other people's secret virtues. "
• "No; we have been as usual asking the wrong question. It does not matter a ..."
• "None but a coward dares to boast that he has never known fear. "
• "Obscenity is whatever happens to shock some elderly and ignorant magistrate. "
• "One of the symptoms of an approaching nervous breakdown is the belief that one's work ..."
• "One should respect public opinion insofar as is necessary to avoid starvation and keep out ..."
• "Order, unity, and continuity are human inventions, just as truly as catalogues and encyclopedias. "
• "Patriotism is the willingness to kill and be killed for trivial reasons. "
• "Patriots always talk of dying for their country and never of killing for their country. "
• "Religion is something left over from the infancy of our intelligence, it will fade away ..."
• "Religions that teach brotherly love have been used as an excuse for persecution, and our ..."
• "Right discipline consists, not in external compulsion, but in the habits of mind which lead ..."
• "Science is what you know, philosophy is what you don't know. "
• "Sin is geographical. "
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• "The degree of one's emotions varies inversely with one's knowledge of the facts. "
• "The fundamental defect of fathers, in our competitive society, is that they want their children ..."
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• "The point of philosophy is to start with something so simple as not to seem ..."
• "The secret of happiness is this: let your interests be as wide as possible, and ..."
• "The time you enjoy wasting is not wasted time. "
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• "The true spirit of delight, the exaltation, the sense of being more than Man, which ..."
• "The universe may have a purpose, but nothing we know suggests that, if so, this ..."
• "The whole problem with the world is that fools and fanatics are always so certain ..."
• "The world is full of magical things patiently waiting for our wits to grow sharper. "
• "There is much pleasure to be gained from useless knowledge. "
• "Thought is subversive and revolutionary, destructive and terrible, Thought is merciless to privilege, established institutions, ..."
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• "To be without some of the things you want is an indispensable part of happiness. "
• "To conquer fear is the beginning of wisdom. "
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