Bertrand Russell

Fear is the main source of superstition, and one of the main sources of cruelty.

The infliction of cruelty with a good conscience is a delight to moralists. That is why they invented Hell.

One should as a rule respect public opinion in so far as is necessary to avoid starvation and to keep out of prison, but anything that goes beyond this is voluntary submission to an unnecessary tyranny.

Patriotism is the willingness to kill and be killed for trivial reasons.

Collective fear stimulates herd instinct, and tends to produce ferocity toward those who are not regarded as members of the herd.

The megalomaniac differs from the narcissist by the fact that he wishes to be powerful rather than charming, and seeks to be feared rather than loved.

Admiration of the adorable is a training in the love of virtue.

The quest for certainty blocks the search for meaning. Uncertainty is the very condition to impel man to unfold his powers.

Happiness is not best achieved by the pursuit of happiness. It is a by-product of other activities.

Dogma is the sacrifice of wisdom to consistency.

Even when the experts all agree, they may well be wrong.

The biggest cause of trouble in the world today is that people talk too much and think too little.

A sense of duty is useful in work but offensive in personal relations.

The value of philosophy is to be sought largely in its very uncertainty.

Mathematics, rightly viewed, possesses not only truth, but supreme beauty—a beauty cold and austere, like that of sculpture.

It is a curious and very interesting fact that the history of philosophy is mainly a record of disagreements.

The hardest thing to understand in the world is the income tax.

Aristotle maintained that women have fewer teeth than men; although he was twice married, it never occurred to him to verify this statement.

Most of the greatest evils that man has inflicted upon man have come through people feeling quite certain about something and not recognizing the truth on the other side.

Change is one thing, progress is another. 'Change' is scientific, 'progress' is ethical; change is indubitable, whereas progress is a matter of controversy.