Bertrand Russell Quotes and Sayings

“Fear is the main source of superstition, and one of the main sources of cruelty. To conquer fear is the beginning of wisdom.” – Bertrand Russell

“Nothing of importance is ever achieved without discipline. I feel myself sometimes not wholly in sympathy with some modern educational theorists, because I think that they underestimate the part that discipline plays. But the discipline you have in your life should be one determined by your own desires and your own needs, not put upon you by society or authority.” – Bertrand Russell

“Freedom comes only to those who no longer ask of life that it shall yield them any of those personal goods that are subject to the mutations of time.” – Bertrand Russell

“It is preoccupation with possessions, more than anything else, that prevents men from living freely and nobly.” – Bertrand Russell

“It has been said that man is a rational animal. All my life I have been searching for evidence which could support this.” – Bertrand Russell

“Without civic morality communities perish; without personal morality their survival has no value.” – Bertrand Russell

“Freedom in general may be defined as the absence of obstacles to the realization of desires.” – Bertrand Russell

“Italy, and the spring and first love all together should suffice to make the gloomiest person happy.” – Bertrand Russell

“What is work? Work is of two kinds: first, altering the position of matter at or near the earth’s surface relatively to other such matter; second, telling other people to do so. The first one is unpleasant and ill paid; the second is pleasant and highly paid.” ― Bertrand Russell

“To be able to concentrate for a considerable time is essential to difficult achievement.” – Bertrand Russell

“When one admits that nothing is certain one must, I think, also add that some things are more nearly certain than others” – Bertrand Russell

“What men want is not knowledge, but certainty.” – Bertrand Russell