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Bertrand Russell — Portrait after a picture by Bassano Ltd (public domain), via Wikimedia Commons.

The quotations of

Bertrand Russell

British philosopher and logician

1872–1970

105 quotes, most often on Anti-Religion, Philosophy and Thinking. Part of the Philosophers collection.

Many people would sooner die than think. In fact they do.
- Thinking
Not to be absolutely certain is, I think, one of the essential things in rationality.
Am I An Atheist Or An Agnostic? (1947)
- Thinking
Reason is a harmonising, controlling force rather than a creative one.
Mysticism and Logic and Other Essays (1918), Ch. 1: Mysticism and Logic
- Thinking
It is clear that thought is not free if the profession of certain opinions makes it impossible to earn a living.
Sceptical Essays (1928), Ch. 12: Free Thought and Official Propaganda
- Freedom
- Thinking
Every man, wherever he goes, is encompassed by a cloud of comforting convictions, which move with him like flies on a summer day.
Sceptical Essays (1928), Ch. 2: Dreams and Facts
- Thinking
Man is a rational animal – so at least I have been told.
Unpopular Essays (1950)
- Comedy
- Thinking
The opinions that are held with passion are always those for which no good ground exists; indeed the passion is the measure of the holder’s lack of rational conviction.
Sceptical Essays (1928), Introduction: “On the Value of Scepticism”
- Emotion
- Thinking
It is only when we think abstractly that we have such a high opinion of man.
Essay Do We Survive Death? (1936)
- Thinking

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