Bertrand Russell

In all affairs it's a healthy thing now and then to hang a question mark on the things you have read more

In all affairs it's a healthy thing now and then to hang a question mark on the things you have long taken for granted.

Envy consists in seeing things never in themselves, but only in their relations. If you desire glory, you may envy read more

Envy consists in seeing things never in themselves, but only in their relations. If you desire glory, you may envy Napoleon, but Napoleon envied Caesar, Caesar envied Alexander, and Alexander, I daresay, envied Hercules, who never existed.

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.

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

Real life is, to most men, a long second-best, a perpetual compromise between the ideal and the possible but the read more

Real life is, to most men, a long second-best, a perpetual compromise between the ideal and the possible but the world of pure reason knows no compromise, no practical limitations, no barrier to the creative activity.