Bertrand Russell

I've made an odd discovery. Every time I talk to a savant I feel quite sure that happiness is no read more

I've made an odd discovery. Every time I talk to a savant I feel quite sure that happiness is no longer a possibility. Yet when I talk with my gardener, I'm convinced of the opposite.

In America everybody is of the opinion that he has no social superiors, since all men are equal, but he read more

In America everybody is of the opinion that he has no social superiors, since all men are equal, but he does not admit that he has no social inferiors, for, from the time of Jefferson onward, the doctrine that all men are equal applies only upwards, not downwards.

The fact that an opinion has been widely held is no evidence whatever that it is not utterly absurd; indeed, read more

The fact that an opinion has been widely held is no evidence whatever that it is not utterly absurd; indeed, in view of the silliness of the majority of mankind, a wide-spread belief is more likely to be foolish than sensible

It is possible that mankind is on the threshold of a golden age; but, if so, it will be necessary read more

It is possible that mankind is on the threshold of a golden age; but, if so, it will be necessary first to slay the dragon that guards the door, and this dragon is religion

Without civic morality communities perish; without personal morality their survival has no value.

Without civic morality communities perish; without personal morality their survival has no value.